The Birds of Aristophanes, as performed by members of the University at Cambridge, Nov. 1883 ...

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/33

THE BIRDS

OF

AKISTOPHANES

THE GREEK TEXT

AS PEBFOBMBD BY MEMBEBS OF THE UKTVEBSITT
AT THE THEATBE BOTAL, GAMBBIDOE,

<

NOVEMBER, 1883;

WITH THE ENGLISH VERSION OF

BENJAMIN HALL KENNEDY, D.D

BBOIUS PROFESSOR OF GREEK.

PRINTED FOR THE COMMITTEE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS:

AND BOLD BY

MACMILLAN AND BOWES.

1883

s

[All Rights reserved,]

Price Two ShiMhigs.

THE BIKDS

OF

AKISTOPHANES

THE GKEEK TEXT

AS FEBFOBMED BT MEMBEBS OF THE UNIVEBSIXT

AT THE TBEATBE BOYAL, OAMBBn}aE,

NOVEMBEB, 1883;

WITH THE ENGLISH VERSION OF
BENJAMIN HALL KENNEDY, D.D.

BEOIUS PB0FK880B OF OBEBK.

PBINTED FOR THE COMMITTEE AT THE UNIVEESITY PBESS:

AND BOLD BY

MACMILLAN & BOWES.

1883

/^

IC^XS, / . /

COMMITTEE:

Pbofbssob Kennedy, D.D., St John's College, President.

A. Austen-Leigh, M.A., King's College.

A. C. Benson, King's College.

OsoAB Bbowning, M.A., King's College.

J. W. Clabk, M.A., Trinity College, Treasurer and Secretary.

Pbopbssob Colvin, M.A., Trinity College, Vice-President.

H. J. C. CusT, Trinity College.

E. A. Gabdneb, Cains College.
Henby Jackson, M.A., Trinity College.
Pbofbssob Jebb, Trinity College.

A. Fleebono Jenein, Trinity College.

F. J. H. Jenkinson, M.A., Trinity College.
C. T. MnsoBAYE, Trinity College.
Pbofbssob Newton, M.A., Magdalene College.

G. W. Pbothebo, M.A., King's College.

F. B. Pbyob, Trinity College, Assistant Stage^Manager and Assistant Secretary.
J. E. Sandys, M.A., St John's College, Public Orator, Vice-President.
C. V. Stanfobd, M.A., Trinity College, Trainer of the Chorus.
C. WaldsteiN; M.A., King's College, Sta^e-Manager.
H. F. Wilson, B.A., Trinity College.

1

PEEFACE.

Encoubaged by the success which attended the per-
formance of The Ajax of Sophocles last year, the Committee
have determined to follow it up by the performance of
another Greek play. This year they have ventured to
substitute a comedy for a tragedy.

To understand fully the principle upon which this
representation of The Birds of Aristophanes has been based,
it must be borne in mind that the primary aim of the
performance is academical. The main object is not to
achieve a dramatic success, but to solve the important and
interesting question, how far is it possible for an ancient
Greek comedy, performed under favourable conditions, to
appeal to the sympathies of a modern audience ?

The second question to be decided by the Committee
and the actors was, how to realise those conditions ?

A2

iv PREFACE.

Here ajs in the performance of The Ajax in December
1882, a compromise has been attempted between the ac-
curate reproduction of ancient theatrical customs and real
life, on the one hand, and a due regard for the require-
ments of modem taste on the other.

The incidental music has been written by Dr Hubert
Parry. Convinced that the attempt exactly to reproduce
Greek music cannot succeed, and that, if it could, the
result would not be intelligible or enjoyable to a modem
audience, the composer set himself to express in a
thoroughly modem way the ideas suggested to him by the
words or the situations, of the play. Once only has an
ancient scale been introduced ; at line 858 the unfortunate
flute-player executes a modem tune in the Lydian mode,
to which it is not at all suited.

We know from ancient vaaes representing scenes from The
Birds of Aristophcmes (see, for instance. Journal of Hellenic
Studies for the year 1881, Vol. ii. p. 309 and PL xiv.), that
the dress of the Bird-chorus was purely conventional. In
devising the dresses for the present occasion, Mr J. W. Clark
has endeavoured, with the assistance of Professor Newton,
to modify this conventionalised bird-dress, and to represent
with some degree of ornithological accuracy both the struc-
ture of the wings in general and the form of the beak in
the individual birds.

PREFACE. V

The scenery has been painted by Mr John O'Connor.

Much of the local tone of the comedy and much of the
spirit of the political allusions must be lost upon an audience
separated by twenty-three centuries from those for whom the
play was originaQy written ; on the other hand it is hoped
that the fresh humour of the action and of the choral dances
has a character which is not purely local or temporary.

Even if the result of this performance should be to shew
that an audience of the present day cannot be satisfied by
the exhibition of an ancient Greek Comedy, an interesting
experiment wiU have been made and an interesting question
will in some degree have received its answer.

C. W.

B

AEGUMENT.

The scene is a rocky wilderness, on which enter two
Athenians, with slaves and baggage. One of these is Peithe-
tairos (Winfriend), an inventive genius, the other, Euelpides
(Hopeful), a chattering jocular cit, with something in him of
Sancho Panza, and a spice of Mark Tapley. Peithetairos
c^es a crow in his left ha.d, Euelpides a jackdaw or jay;
prophetic birds which act as guides to the two travellers, who,
sick of litigation, worry, and expense, are migrating from
Athens in search of a less troublesome abode. Such a city
they hope to find by the aid of the Hoopoe, formerly Tereus,
allied by marriage to Pandion, a mythic king of Athens.
With the help of their birds, they reach his residence, and
obtain an interview. *0f what country are you?' says the
Hoopoe. 'Whence the gallant triremes,' replies Euelpides.
'Are you Heliasts?' — 'No! Heliast-haters : we seek a snug
city/ — 'A greater than Athens V — 'No, but a more comfort-
able one/ — 'You want an aristocracy/ — 'Not at all: I abhor
Aristokrates/ — 'Well/ says the Hoopoe, *I know such a city

ARGUMENT. vii

on the Red Sea.' — ^"No sea-side place for us, where the
Salaminian galley may come and arrest us. But we should
like to hear about the bird-life, what sort of thing it is.' —
'Pleasant enough,' (1 — 161.) And now Peithetairos, who
has been wrapt in silent meditation, breaks in with the
announcement of a plan for aggrandizing the Birds, by buUd-
ing a city between earth and heaven, which shall intercept
the savour of sacrifices, and wear the gods to death with
famine, compeUing them to pay tribute, and surrender their
dominion to the Birds. The Hoopoe, charmed with the idea,
agrees to summon the Birds to a conference, in which Peithe-
tairos shall expound his scheme. His nightingale-wife
Prokne is called out of the brake, and the two sing their
pibroch of summons to the Bird-tribe (162 — 262). It is
answered first by the appearance of some peculiar birds, and
then by the 24 who enter the orchestra and form the Chorus
of the play (263 — 309). Horrified at the sight of men, their
natural enemies, their first impulse is to destroy the two
Athenians, who, armed with their cooking utensils, stand on
the defensive. At last the Hoopoe succeeds in cooling their
wrath; and they consent to hear the exposition of Peithe-
tairos (310 — 461). He, by a series of comic instances, and by
dint of a comic logic, proves to their satisfiaxition that Birds
were the deities originally worshipped by mankind. 'And
how are we to recover our lost dominion V they ask in the
eagerness of excited ambition. Peithetairos develops his
plan of a new Bird-city; and removes one by one the diflfi-
culties suggested. His views are accepted with enthusiasm ;
and a vote of confidence is passed (462 — 637). The Hoopoe
introduces the Nightingale to his guests, enters with them

b2

viii ARGUMENT.

into his dwelling, and does not again appear, the conduct of
the Bird-nation being now left to Peithetairos. Here follows
the Farabasis, which, after a cosmogony, shewing the Birds to
be more ancient than the Gods, offers, in the epirrhema,
impunity for crime as a temptation to settle in Birdland,
and, in the antepirrhema, recounts various immoral advan-
tages gained by the possession of wings (638 — 800). The
two Athenians, changed into birds by eating a magic root,
rejoin the Chorus, and, afber mutual banter, adopt for the new
city the title of Cloudcuckooborough (Nephelokokkygia).
Euelpides is then despatched to overlook the builders, and
does not reappear. Peithetairos fetches a priest to pray and
perform sacrifice, while the Birds chant a Chorikon. The
priest recites a litany, in which Birdnames are mingled
in ridiculous confusion with those of the ancient deities.
After which, because he had brought a lean goat for sacrifice,
he is dismissed with contumely (801 — 903). Emigrants
from the old world apply for admission to the new city;
a begging poet, a cheating soothsayer, the geometer Meton,
an oflScial inspector, and a vendor of plebiscites or decrees.
The poet gets a dole of clothing; the rest are packed off
with insults and stripes (904 — 1057). The Chorus then
sing a second imperfect Parabasis; in the epirrhema of
which a reward is offered to any one who shall kill the
atheist Diagoras of Melos, or any of the dead tyrants
(1058 — 1117). Tidings come to Peithetairos of the com-
pletion of the new city, which is ludicrously described. Iris,
the messenger of the gods, who had been despatched to
require fi:om men the usual sacrifices, is now intercepted by
the Bird-scouts and brought before Peithetairos, who sends

ARGUMENT. u

her back to heaven with scoffs and threats (1118—1266). A
herald from earth relates the enthusiasm which is inspired at
Athens by the foundation of the Bird-city. Crowds, he says,
are on their way to demand wings. Peithetairos, with his
slaves, prepares a supply of these. The first candidate is
a young man who wants to get rid of his father. Peithe-
tairos dissuades him from this purpose, supplies him with
wings, a spur and a crest, and sends him to fight his country's
battles in Thrace. A professed Informer appears, who desires
wings to fly to and from the islands in pursuit of his dis-
honest business. He is severely scourged and dismissed.
(1269 — 1469). A Stasimon follows, shewing up the poltroon
Kleonumos and the cloak-robber Orestes. Then enters
Prometheus as a deserter from heaven, hidden under a
sunshade or umbrella. He tells Peithetairos that the gods
are reduced to starvation, and are sending an embassy to
treat for peace. He advises that the only terms accepted be,
that the sceptre shall be restored to the Birds, and Royalty,
the aU-powerftil handmaid of Zeus, be given to Peithetairos
in marriage. The scene now changes to the kitchen of
Qoudcuckooborough. Then appear the three divine am-
bassadors, Poseidon the courtier, Herakles the glutton, and
Triballos the barbarian. Peithetairos, who is cooking a
repast, of which the chief dish consists of birds put to death
for insurrection against the democratic birds, gains the
support of Herakles by the savour of dainties, and other
tempting promises. Herakles wins over Triballos, and,
Poseidon being thus outvoted, the demands of Peithetairos
are conceded. He proceeds to heaven with the three am-
bassadors to receive his bride. A messenger announces the

ARGUMENT.

approach of the bridal pair. Peithetairos, who wields the
thunderbolts of Zeus, descends with Royalty from a chariot,
amidst the acclamations of the Birds. The nuptial pro-
cession is formed, and marches forth to the sound of exulting

music*

B. M. K.

* The translator desires to aoknowledge his debt of gratitude to Mr
F. J. H. Jenkinson, Fellow of Trinity College, for able cooperation in
editing the Greek text.

CHARACTERS.

Peithetairos

Etielpides

Hoopoe .

Runner-Bird

Nightingale

Priest .

Poet

Soothsayer

Meton .

Inspector

Plebiscite Vendor

First Messenger

Second Messenger

Iris

Herald .

Parricide

Informer

Prometheus

Herakles

Poseidon

TribaUos

Third Messenger

Basileia .

Jjcader of the Chorus

Mr M. B. James, Eing*s College.

Mr H. A. Newton, Magdalene College.

Mr F. R. Pbyob, Trinity College.

Mr G. J. Maquay, Trinity College.

Mr F. L. NoBBis, Trinity College.

Mr A. C. Benson, King's College.

Mr J. D. OuvBY, Trinity HalL

Mr H. F. W. Tatham, Trinity CoUege.

Mr F. B. WiNTHROP, Trinity College.

Mr L. N. GuiLLEMABD, Trinity College.

Mr E. A. Gabdneb, Caius College.

Mr J. D. OuvBY, Trinity Hall.

Mr F. R. Pbyob, Trinity College.

Mr L. J. Maxsb, King's College.

Mr F. B. WiNTHBOP, Trinity College.

Mr A. FiiEEMiNO JeneIn, Trinity College.

Mr L. N. GuiLLEMABD, Trinity College.

Mr H. J. C. CnsT, Trinity College.

Mr B. Thbelfall, Cains College.

Mr. B. W. White-Thomson, King's College.

Mr H. F. W. Tatham, Trinity College.

Mr J. D. OuvBY, Trinity Hall.

Mr E. A. Gabdneb, Caius College.

Mr S. M. Leathes, Trinity College.

CHORUS OF BIRDS.

Blandfobd, W. H.
Boyle, W. H. D.
Cobb, J. B.
Dunn, A. T. B.
Gk)TT, C. R.
Habbison, a.
Eynaston, W. H.
Lanoe, E. M.
Langham, F. G.
Maquay, G. J.

MUSOBAVE, C. T.

Sing, J. M.
Stables, W. H.
sumkebhayes, h.
Thomas, P. A.
White-Thomson, L. J.
Wilson Fox, H.
Wilson, H. F.

Trinity College.
King's College.
Emmanuel College.
Trinity College.
Jesus Collega
Christ's College.
St John's College.
Jesus College.
Trinity Hall.
Trinity College.
Trinity College.
Christ's College.
Trinity College.
Emmanuel College.
King's College.
King's College.
Trinity College.
Trinity College.

The Parabasis wiQ be spoken by Mr C. Platts, Trinity College, and
the songs incidental to the part of the Hoopoe will be sung by Mr G.
J. Maquay.

Conductor of the Music Mr C. V. Stanfobd.
Stage-manager Mr Chables Waldstein.

THE BIRDS OF AEISTOPHANES.

1

k^

if^V Tz-JSJ^^t

Iffis^,

It^^

ACT I.

Scene : a toild tract, with hush and rock : a tree in the distance,
Enter Feithetairos and Euelpidbs with daves. The former
carries a crow, the latter a jay,

Eu. R3BSHITRAIGHT, where the tree stands out — ^is

*

that the track ? [To the jay.

Fei. Plague take you! mine again is
croaking back.
Eu. Still up and down, old sinner, must we pace?
'Twill kill us both, this vain way-weaving race.

Pei, That I, poor wretch, believing in a crow, 5

More than a thousand furlongs round should go !

Eu. That I, bad luck ! believing in a jay,
Should knock my wretched toe-nails all away !

Pei. Tis past my knowledge where on earth we stand.
Eu. Could you from hence find out the fatherland? 10

. Pei. That not e'en Exekestides could do.
Eu. Woe, woe !
Pei. Tliat road, my friend, I leave to you.

ACT I.

Scene : a wild tract, with hvsh amd rock : a tree in iJie distance.
Enter Feithetaibos amd Euelpides with slaves, Theform&r
carries a crow, the latter a jay.

ET. 'IE9i^B^P@HN Kekeiet^y ^ to BevSpov ^alverai;

[To the jay,

IIEI. iuippwyelri^' ifjie S' av Kpoo^ec

ET. t/, CO irovr]py ava> kclto) irTuLVVTrofiev ;

diroXovfied^ aWa)<$ rrjv oSov 7rpo<f>opovfi€V(o,
IIEI. t3 S' ifjik Kopdurg iretOoiievov top aff\u)v 5

6S0V irepieKdelv (TTaSLa TrXetv fj j^/Xta.
ET. t3 S' ifie Ko\oL& ireidofievov top Bv<rfJLOpop

diroo'TroBTJa'ai roif^ ovvxa^ rdop BaKTvXcDP,
IIEI. oKTC oi)S' iirov yrjs itrfiep olB^ €70)7* en,
ET. iprevOevl rrjp TrarplB* ap i^evpot^ av ttpu; 10

IIEI. oxf^ dp fid AC ipyerevdep ^^^rjK€arlBri<i,
ET. oXfWL
IIEI. av fjbip, (3 Tap, Ttjp oBop Tavrrjp Wl,

1—2

ACT I.

Eu, A scurvy trick he's played us, he o' the Birdmart,
Fhilokrates the poulterer, in his craze:

He said this pair would find for us the hoopoe; is

And so he sold this brat of Tharraleides,
This jay, for twopence, and yon crow for sixpence;
But all the creatures knew was — how to peck.
Now what do you gape at? somewhere down the rocks 20

Do you propose to push us ? here's no road. \To the jay,

Pei. Nor here, I vow; no vestige of a path.

Eu, Your crow says something, doesn't she, of the way ?

Fd, Her croak is different from before, by Jove.

Eu, But, pray, what says she of the road? 2s

Pd. * I'U maul

And gnaw your fingers off,' she says : that's alL

Eu, Now isn't it monstrous hard that, when we want
To go to the ravens, and are quite prepared.
Yet after all we can't find out the way?
Know, gentles, ye that come to hear our plot, do

We're stricken with a certain malady.
The opposite of that which Sakas has:
He, no true citizen, is struggling in;
While we, full-franchised both in tribe and clan.
Citizens in the midst of citizens,
With none to scare us, from our fatherland
Flew out, as fast as both our feet could waft us; 35

PROLOGOS. 2

ET. ^ Beiva V(o SiSpaKCv ovk t&v opvitov,

6 irivaKOTTdiXT)^ ^iKo/cpdrr)^ fi€\ayxoX£vy
09 Tft)S' e^acKe v&v ^pdaetv rov Trjpia' 15

KairiSoTO rhv fiev QappaXelBov tovtovl
KoKoiov o^oXov, rrjvBeSl rptto^oKov'
T(o S* OVK dp ^<rT7]v ovSev dX\o ttX^v Sdfcveiv.
Kot vvv tI KeyTjva^'y e<T0* ottoi Kara r&v irerp&v 20
Tlfid<i er' <ffe*9; ov yap ear evravdd rt^
0S09. [To the jay,

IIEL ovZk fid A" ivravOd y drpairo^ ovBafJLov,

ET. TL S'; 7] Kopdvrj t^9 oSov ti Xiyet irept;
IIEI. ov ravrd xpoi^ei fid Ala vvv re xal t6t€,
ET. rl Si) \iyeL irepX t^9 ohov ; 25

IIEI. TV S* a\Xo *y rj

PpvKOva direheaOai, (fyrja-l fioi toi)9 haKTvKov^ ;
ET. ov ieivov ovv Bfjr ia-rlv rjfia^ Beofievov^
69 KopaKa^ ekOeiv KaX Trapea-Kcvacrfiivov^
eireira firj ^^evpelv Svvaxr0ac rfjv oSov ;
i^fi€t<; ydp, £vSpe^ oi irapovre^ iv \6y^, 30

voaov voaovfiev rrjv ivavrlav ^dKa\
o fikv ydp OVK &v acrT09 ia-^Ld^erac,
Tjfiek Sk i^vXy Kal yivei TLfidfievoi,
doTol fier daroiv, ov ao^ovvro^ ovBevb^
dveiTTOfieff* eK rf}^ irarplBo^ dfi^olv roiv ttoBoiv, 35

ACT I.

Not moved by hatred of that city's self,

As 'twere not in its nature great and happy,

And free to all alike — to pay their fines in:

"No, faith! cicalas for a month or two

Are chirping on the shoots : Athenians ever 40

Are chirping on the suits their lifetime through.

Such are the reasons why we gang this gait:

With sacred corbel, pot and myrtle-sprays,

We wander, seeking for a suitless spot,

Where we may settle down and spend our lives. 45

In short we're bound to Tereus' court, the hoopoe;

From him we wish to learn, if such a city

He e'er descried in any of his flights.

Fei. Holloa, Sir I

^iL Well, what now?

Fei. The crow some time

Makes upward signs to me. 60

Eu. Ay, and this jay

Stares upward open-mouth'd as shewing me something.
There must be birds, no question, hereabouts:
But, if we make a noise, we soon shall know.

Fei. I'll tell you what to do : just give the rock
A shin-stroke. .

Eu. By all means; and you a head-stroke;

A double knock will make a double noise. 56

Fei. Well, take a stone and strike.

PROLOGOS. 3

avTtjv fikv 00 fiiaovpT eKelvqv Tfjv iroKiv

TO fir) ov fJLcyaX'qv elvat, <f>va€C fcevSaifiova

Kol iraa-i Koi^vrjv ivaTToriaav 'xprjfiara.

oi fi€v yap ovv rimye^ iva yJf\v ^ Zvo

hrX t£v Kpah&v q,iova^ ^A6rfvaioi S' del 40

iirl TcSi; hiK&v qZovat Trama t6v jSlov.

Sta ravra rovSe rov fiaSov fiaZl^ofiev^

teavovv 8* expvre xal yjjTpav icai fivpplva^

*n\apoifi€0a ^rjTOVirre Toirov airpay^ova^

iirov Ka6iBpv0ivT€ Siayevolfieff av. 45

o 8e ariKo^ v^v iarrc irapa rov Tffpia

t6v Siroira, irap ixelvov irvOiadai, Seofiipto,

el irov TOMVTr)v elSe iroXiv ^ ^ireirrero.

IlEI. OVTO^.

ET. tL loTip;

IIEI. f/ KOpdvTj flOl TTokiU

dvfo Ti ^pa^et. 50

ET. yti Ko\o^^ ovToal

av(o Kiyrfveif wcrTrepel Seifcvv^ rl fioiy
tcovK iaff* 27ra>9 ovk eariv ivravO* opvecu
etcrofieOa S' avrliCj fjv iroirjafoiiev y^6<f>ov.

IIEI. aXX' olaO* S Spdaov; r^ aKekec 6eve rfjv irerpau,

ET. <rv Sk T§ K€<f>aKy y, Xv ^ 8i7r\datx>^ 6 '^6(l>o^. 55

IIEI. (TV S' oSv \l0<p k6'^ov \afi(iv.

ACT I.

Eu, 111 do youip bidding.

Boy, boy!

Pel. What's that? you call the Hoopoe 'boy*?
Ought you not rather to cry *Hoopopoy'?

Eu, Hoopopoy 1 whooping once, it seems, won't do.
Hoopopoy ! eo

Enter Runner-bird ^rom the hush,

Eun, Who are these? Who calls my lord?

Evh Apollo guard us? what a monstrous yawn!

RvM, Me miserable ! they're a brace of fowlers.

Eu, But pr'ythee say, what animal are you?

Run, I am a slave-bird. 70

Eu, Did some cock defeat you?

Run, Not so: but when my lord became a hoopoe.
He prayed that I too might become a bird;
So should he have a pursuivant and page.

Eib, One bird then needs another for a page?

Run, My master does, by reason, I suppose, 75

That he was formerly a man; and so.
When he would lunch upon Phalerian whitebait,
I run to fetch him whitebait, dish in hand.
Soup if he craves, ladle and pot are wanted :
I run for a ladle.

Eu, 'Tis the Runner-bird.

PROLOGOS. 4

ET. irdvv 7', el BoKet

iraX iral,
IIEI. tI Xeyet^j 0VT09; rov hroira iral #ca\6?9 ;

ovK dvrX Tov 7rafcSo9 cr' ixPV^ iiroiroi KoXeiv;
ET. iiroTTot TTOAiJcret? rol fie KSTrreiv aZ0L^ av.

hroirol. 60

Enter Eunner-bird yremi the htish,
TPO. t/v€9 oiJTOt; t/9 o ^SocSi' tov Seairorrfv;

ET. "A-TToXXoi/ aTTorpoTrate, rov ')(aafiriiiaTO^,
TPO. o!/iO£ TaXa9, opvcOoffrjpa rovrtoL
ET. aTa/9 cr^ ri Orjplov ttot €4 7r/)09 to/p 0€(5p\
TPO. opvi^ eywye BovXo^. 70

ET. 1]TTI]01]S Tiv6^

dXjefcrpvovo^ ;

TPO. oi)/c, aXX' 2t€ Tre/) 6 SecrrroTiy?

eiroy^ iyeveTO, rore yeviaOav fi Tjv^aro
opviVf IV atco\ovuov oiaKovov r €j(rj.

ET. Belrai ycLp 8pvi^ koI BcukSvov rivo^;

TPO. oSt6^ 7' &T olfjbav irporepov avOptoiro^ iror oSv' 75
ore fikv epa ffxx^etu d(f>va^ (fyaXrjpiKd^,
Tpex^ *fr d<f>va^ Xaffdv €7(0 to Tpvp\iov'
irvov^ S* einOvfiel Bel re ropvwj^ xal 'xyrpa^,
rpixo^ VI Topiivfjv.

ET. rpo')(tKo^ opvi^ ovroaL

ACT I.

I'll tell you, Runner, what to do: go call so

Your master for us.

Hun. Nay, but he's just gone

To take a nap after a hearty meal
Of myrtle-berries, with a gnat or two.

j^i«, Well, wake him all the same.

Bun. I'm very sure

Hell be displeas'd, but for your sakes I'll wake him.

[Exit Runner-bird,

Pei. Go and be hang'd, for frightening me to death. 85

Eu. Woe's me, unlucky wight ! my jay too's gone
In terror.

Pei. O you biggest of big cowards.
Your fright it was allowed the jay to go.

Uti, Pray didn't you tumble down and loose the crow?

Pei. Not I, by Jove. flo

Eu. Where is shel

Pei. Flown away.

Eu. Oh, you didn't loose her, bravest of the brave.

The Hoopoe speaks from the bush,
Hoo. Open the greenwood, that I may come forth.

Enter Hoopoe.
Eu. Great Herakles! what animal is here?

PROLOGOS. 5

olaS* ovv o Spdaov, <Z Tpo'x^cXei rbv Betnrorrjv 80
rjfiiif KoKeaov,
TPO. oTOC dprUo^ vrj rdv Ala

evSec KaTa<f)aywv fivpra zeal aep^ov^ Tiva^.

ET. ifiG)^ eireyeipop avrov.

»

TPO. o2Sa /Lt^i/ aa^S^

OTb d^Oeaerai, a^^v 8' avT^v ovveic iireyepoi.

\ExU Runner-bird,

nEI. KaK&^ iTU 7* dirokoLy &^ p! dirkicTUva^ Siet. 85

ET. otp^OL KaKoSaip^tov, p^cJ koXoio^ p^H'^erac

viro Tov Siov^.
IIEI. w SetXorarov av OriploVy

Selaa^ d^fj/ca^ tov koXoiov;
ET. etVe /iot,

av Si rrjv Kopoovrfv ovK d(f>'^Ka^ Karaireaoiv \
IIEI. pA AC OVK ^toye. • 90

ET. irov yap ear ;

IIEI. dirhrTero,

ET. OVK dp d<l)r}Ka'ij Sxydff y (W9 dvSpelo^ el.

The Hoopoe speaks from the hush.
En. avoi^e rrjv fiXrjVf Xv i^eKdoa irorL

Enter Hoopoe,
ET. 60 'H/)a/cX6t9, tovtI tI ttot iarX to Or/plov ;

ACT I.

What plumage thisl what triple-crested fashion?

Hoo, Who are they that come to seek mel 96

Eu. The twelve gods —

Seem to have smashed you.

Hoo. Strangers, do you flout me,

, Because you see this plumage? I was once
A man.

Eu. We do not laugh at you.

Hoo, What then?

Eu, That beak of yours looks to us laughable.

Hoo. Of course: such insult in his tragedies loo

Does Sophokles inflict on me, the Tereus.

Eu, You're Tereus, are you? bird or peacock, which?

Hoo, A bird am I.

Eu. Where are your feathers, then?

Hoo. They've fallen off.

Eu. Was that from some disease?

Hoo. No : in the winter all birds moult their feathers, 105
And then again we fledge another set.
But tell me what you twain are.

Eu. Mortals we.

Hoo. Your native country?

Eu. Whence the gallant triremes.

Hoo. Heliasts, are you?

PROLOGOS. 6

rk 17 TTTepmai^ ; T19 6 rpoiro^ Trj<: Tpi\o<f>ia^ ;
EII. rive^ elai p! oi fiyroOi/Te? ; 95

ET. oi SoiScfca Oeol

En. fiwp fie atcdwrerov

opcovre rrjv irripaxriv; fj yap, (3 fei/o),

dpOpayrro^.
ET. ov cov KaTay€\£fi€v*

En. dXXci Tov;

ET. TO pdfi<f>o<s rifilv aov yiXoiop ^alverai.
En. TouLvra fiivrov 'S,o(f>oK\€ri<: Xvfialverac 100

iv ralf; rpay^Siaiacp ifik top Tijpia,
ET. TiTjpev^ ycLp el <rv\ iroTepop oppt,^ fj racS?;
En. ippi,^ irf(oy€,

ET. Kara irov aoc tA iTTepa)

En. i^€ppvr)K€,

ET. iroTepop virb poaov Tti/09;

En. oifK, aXKci TOP j(^€c/ioopa irdpTa T&ppea 105

7rT€poppv€i, KaT av0i<; Srepa (f)vo/i€P.

oKK eiiraTOP fioi 0*90) tip caTOP]
ET. vo) ; PpoTto.

En. TToSaTTco TO 76^09 S' ;

ET. 0^61/ al TpLTjpet^ a I KoKaL

En. p,&p fjfKutOTa^

ACT I.

Eu. No, the other sort,

Heliast-haters. no

Hoo. Is that seed sown there?

Eu. A sprinkling you may gather off the field.

Hoo. But, pray, what object come you here in quest of?

Eu, An interview with you.

Hoo. Upon what business?

Eu. Seeing that, first, you once were man, like us,
Once money owed to creditors, like us, 115

Once gladly shirked repaying it, like us;
Next, changing to the nature of the birds.
You flew about o'er land and sea, and all
The feelings both of man and bird are yours,
Therefore we're hither come as suppliants to you, 120

To see if you can shew us some snug dty.
Soft as a blanket to lie down and snooze in.

Hoo. A greater city seek you than the Kranaan?

Eu. Not greater, no; but nicer for ourselves.
Hoo. You seek an aristocracy, that's clear. 125

Eu. Not I : and Skellias' youngster makes me sick.
Hoo, What kind of city would you choose to dwell in?
Eu. One where my greatest troubles should be these:

PROLOGOS. 7

ET. fidWa Oarepov rpoirov,

aiTTjXiaa'TCL no

En. airelperai yap tovt itcei

TO aireppL ;

ET. okiyov ^rjr&v av ef dypov \dj3oi<:.

En. irpdyov<: Be S17 rov Seofiepco Bevp' ri\6erv}V)

ET. aoX ^vyyeviaOac fiovXofievao.

En. rivof; iripi;

ET. Zri irpwTa fiev rjaff* avdpeoiros &a'irep v(o wore,

KCLpyvpiov wif>€tKrja'a^ &a"irep v<a irore, 115

KDVK aTToStSoi)? l;^a*/>€9 Sa-irep vdo irore'
elr avOt^ opvlOoov /neraWafa? <j)V(Tiv

Kot yfjv eireiTTov koX 6aKcmav iv KVKktp,

I

KCLL iravG" iaairep dvOptoiro^ oca t* opvc<; ^povel^'
TavT ovv iKera V(0 Trpd^ (rk SeO/o' d<f>iyfi€0a, 120

€L TLva TToXiv <f>pd(Teia^ rjpZv evepov
wairep aiavpav iyKaraKkivfjvai, fiaXOaKrjv,
En. eireira fjuel^co t£v JLpava&v ^rfrei^ ttoXiv;
ET. fiel^oD fiev ovSev, irpoai^optoTepav Be v&v.
En. dpi<JTOKpaT€La-0ai BrjXo^ el ^rjr&v, 125

ET. eV ;

rfKKrra' koX top ^xeWiou fiBeXvTTOfJbai,
En. irolav nv ovv ^Biar av oIkoIttjv ttoKcv;
ET. Sttoi; rd fieyvara irpdyfiar etrf fiot raBl'

ACT I.

Some friend should seek my door at morning tide,

And say, *By Zeus Olympius I beseech, 130

You and your children take an early bath.

And visit me : I give a wedding breakfast ;

Don't think of saying no, or, if you do.

Never approach me, when my fortunes ebb.'

Hoo, Poor fellow, what afflictions you're in love with ! 135
Well, there's a city such as you describe.
Favoured of fortune, on the Bed-sea coast. 145

Eu. Ah I name it not : no seaside place for us,
Where sudden, some fine morning, will pop up.
Carrying a summoner, the Salaminia.

But what's the style .of living with the birds? 155

You know it well, no doubt.

Hoo. Not disagreeable

For daily wear and tear : to take an instance,
You have to live without a purse.

Eu, Good riddance

Of one of life's most palpable corruptions !

Hoo., We feed in gardens on white sesame-grains.
On myrtle-berries, poppy-seed, and water-mint. loo

Eu. Then 'tis a life of bridegrooms that you lead.

Pel. Huzza ! huzza !
I spy a great design, I really do,
Within the scope of birds to frame, and power
To work it out, if you will only take
My counsel.

Hoo. Take what counsel?

PROLOGOS. 8

€7r6 TTJv dvpav fiov irpco Tt9 ekOdv r&v <f>iKa>v

Xiyoi raSl' Trpd^ tov A^d? rovKv/nrlov 130

27rfi>9 irapiaei fwc Kal <rd icaX ret iratSia

"Kova-dfjbeva trpto' fiiXXco yap iarcdv ydfiov^*

Kal fir)8afjt^^ aWo)^ Troiijarj^' el 8e firjy

fii] fiol iroT €\,0ri^, irav iydo irpdrrco /ea/cS^.

£11. c3 SeiXaKpiwv av r&v /caxSv oXtav ipa<:, 155

drdp lari 7* otto lav Xeyerov evhalfioav iroKi,^
irapd T'fjv ipvOpdv OdXarrav, 145

£T. oifioi firjSa/M<S^

fipZv ye irapd ddXarrav, Xv dvaKv^frerac
kKtityjp Srfova ecoOev rj adXafiLvla,
oSto^ 8^ S17 t/9 Icff 6 fier opvldtov ^lo^; 155

cri) yap oUrB* dxpifioi^.

En. ovfc a')(apL<; €9 rrjv rpifiijp'

oS irp&ra p,ev hel ^rjv dvev jSaWavrlov.

ET. iroW'^p y d^eTXe^ tov l3lov Ki/SSrfXlav.

£11. vefiofieda S' iv Krjiroi^ rd Xev/ca arjaapu

KoX fJLvpra Koi p/qKtova Kal aurvfilSpuz, 160

£T. vp^i^ fiev dpa ^rjre wp,^i<ov filov.

HEI. <f>€V <f>€V'

rj p,iy ivopS ^ovKevp^ iv opvlOeov yevei,
Kal Bvvafiiv ^ ykvoLT dv, el irlBoiaOe fioi.
EII. rl aoi 7n0(6fjLe0* ;

ACT I.

Fei. What? why first

Cease flying all about with open bills. les

ffoo. What must we do, then?
Pei. Found a single city.

Hoo. What sort of city could we found, we birds?

Pei. So, so? you speaker of the silliest speech.
Look down. 175

Hoo, Tm looking,

Pei, Now look up.

Hoo, I do.

Pei. Now turn your neck about.
Hoo, A pretty gain

'Twill be, forsooth, if I'm to wring my neck.

Pei, Did you see something?

Hoo. Yea; the clouds and sky.

Pei, These constitute, I think, the site of birds.

But, settled once, and fortified by you.

Instead of 'site' they shall be term'd 'a city.'

So will ye rule o'er men as over locusts, 185

And wear the gods to death with Melian famine.

Hoo, How so?

Pei. The air's midway, methinks, from earth :

And just as, if we want to visit Delphi,
We ask Boeotians for a passage through.

PROLOGOS. 9

nEI. o TL mdrja-Oe; irp&Ta fiev

[j/fj irepvirkreade Trai/raj^^ ^cej^iyvore?, 165

EII, ri odv iroLWfjitev]

IIEI. oLKiaaTe fjt,iav iroXiv.

£11. iroUbv ^ av oifciaacfiev opvtOe^ ttoKlv ;

IIEL aX/rjOe^'y w a/ccuoTarop eiprjKd^ Itto?,

fikiyp'op tcdro}. 175

En. Kol 817 /SXeVft).

IIEI. /SXiire vvv avccf.

En. fi\€7r(o.

IIEI. 7r€pla^€ TOP Tpdyrikov,

EH. vfi Ala

diroKavaofial rov^, el ScaoTpaKfytjao/iaL

HEI. elSk Tv;

En. rd^ ve<f>e\a^ ye xal top ovpapop,

IIEI. ov'x, oSto^ ovp Sijirov VtIi/ opplOtop 7r6\o<; ;
'^p S* olxlaTfTe Tovro /cal <l>pd^rj6* dira^,
e/c Tov iroKov tovtov KeKKriaeTat ttoXa?.
(wo-T* dp^er dpOpooTrcop fikp &<nr€p irappoircop, 185
T0^9 S' av 0€ov^ diroXelTe \ifi& firjXltp,

En. TTcS? ;

IIEI. €1/ ^a^ hrjirovdep drjp iarc 7^9.

elB* Sairep rjfiel^, fjp lepat ^ovKwfieda
HvOoiSe, Bo4G)Toi)9 BloSop airovfieOa,

2—2

ACT I.

Even so, whene'er men sacrifice to gods, uo

Unless the gods agree to pay you tribute,

Youll not let savoury meat-steams pass your way.

Hoo, Bravo ! bravo !
By earth, by snares, by gins, by nets, I never —
No, never did I hear a prettier notion : 196

So with your help the city will I found.
Consent being given by the other birds.

Pei. Who will expound the matter to them?

Hoo, You shall :

For, though they were a barbarous race before,
I taught them language, living with them long. 200

Pd, How then can you convoke them?

Hoo. Easily.

Ill enter here at once into the bush,
And after IVe aroused my nightingale,
We'U call them. If they do but hear our voice,
They'll run full speed. ' 206

PeL Then stay not, dearest bird,

But, I beseech you, go into the bush
This instant, and arouse the nightingale.

[The Hoopoe enters the bash and clixmta,

Hoo. Geaae, my TncUe, from slumher now ;

Let the sacred hymn-notes flow, 210

PROLOGOS. 10

ovT€o^, irav Ovatoavv avOptoiroL 0€ol<:f 190

rjv firj <l>6pov <l>ipci)<np vfitv ol deoi,
T&v firjpifov Ti)v Kvurav ov Sia^pfja-ere.
En. lov lov'

pjj '7cJ vorjp^a Kop^'yftoTepov ^Kovaa irto' 195

&aT av KaroiKl^otfit fierd aov rrjv itoXlv,
el ^vvSoKolff TOUTLV aXKot^ opvioi^.

IIEL rk av oiy rh irparfp! avTcfvi Bi/riyTjaaiTO ;

EH. criJ.

iyo^ jdp avTov^ /3ap^dpov^ ovra^ irpo rov
iSlSa^a rfjv (fxovi^v, ^vvwv irdKvv ypovov, 200

IIEI. TTftJ? hrJT av avTov<; ^vytcaXea-eia^ ;

En. paiUo^,

Bevpl ydp ia-jSa^ avruca fidX* €9 t^v X-oj^iyi/j
€7r€iT dv€fy€lpa<; T'^v ifirp; drjSova,
Ka\ov/iev avToifi' ot Sk v^v rov <j>0eYp^To<:
idvirep hraKoio'caaL Bevaovrai hpop,^. 105

IIEI. (w ^iKraT opvldwv av, p^rj vvv earaOi,'

aW*, dvTifioXA a, dr/ (W9 rd'x^iOT i^ rrjv \6j(/JLrfv
eafiavve tcdveyeipe rrjv drjSovct,

[The Hoopoe eTUers the hvsh and chants.

En. aye, avvvopA p^oi, iravaat p^ev virvov,

Xvaov Si vopbov^ leptSv vp,v(ov, 310

ACT L

Wcdiing with thy voice dimne
Lang-fvept ItySy mme cmd thmie.
So, when thy brown beak is thriUing
With that holy m/uaic-triUi/ngf
Though the woodbine^s leafy bound
Swells the pu/re melodious sownd 216

To the throne of Zeus : and there
Phoebus of the golden hair,
Hearing, to thine elegies
With the aioakerCd chords replies
Of his ivory-daspid lyre, ^
Stirring all the Olympian quire;
TiU from each im/mortal tongue
. Of that blessed heavenly th/rong 220

Peals the full ha/rmonious song,
[Mtisic is played, imitating the notes qf the nightingale.

Eu. O royaJ Zeus ! that bird's voice ! what a flood
Of honey did it stream o'er all the wood !

Pel Holloa, Sir!

Eu. Well, what now?

Pei. Be silent.

Eu. Why? m

Pei, The Hoopoe frames another melody.

Hoo. Epopopopopopopopopopopopopoi I

Holloa I holloa I what ho I what ho I

Hither haste, my phme-pa/rtaJeers ;

Corns mmvy, come cmy

Thai pastfure on the farm^er^s well-sown acres, aw

ASMA I. 11

01)9 Sea deiov (rrSfiaTo^ Ofyrfvei^

t6v ifiov fcal aov irdKvZaKpvv *'Itvi/*

ekeKiXoiJifhni^ S' iepoh fieXeaiv

KodapCL X'^P^^ ^^^ <f>vX\0K6/JL0V a 15

a-fiiKaxo^ rj'XJob 7rp6^ A^d? ^pa^y
Xv 6 j^i;o-OAC(}/Aa9 ^ot^o<s aKovtov
Tot<; aov; iXeyoL^ dvriyp'dWcov
ike^avrhierov ^pfiuyya de&v
Xarqa-t ^Ppov^* Sect S' dOavdrtov
arofidrcov xtopel ^fi<f>(ovo^ ofiov 220

Oeia fia/cdptov oXoXvyi],
[Music is played, imitating the notes of the nightingale.

ET. e5 Zev ^axrCKev, rev (l>0€yfiaTO^ TovpvL0lov*

olov Kare^eXlTdxre ttjv XoxM'V^ oXtjv*
EEL o5to9.
ET. tI €<TTiv;

IIEI. ov a-ccoTTTJaei, ;

ET. ri Sai; 215

IIEL oirrroy^ ^ekmSetv av irapa^Kevd^erai,
EH. hroTTOTTOTroiroTro'n'OTroiroTrolf

iiO Ltd tT(0 trO) 6T(it) LTOO,

troD Tt9 ojSe T&v ifiwv ofioTrrepcoV

iaoi, r evairopov^ dr/polK<ov yva^ 330

ACT I.

Tribes countless that on barley /eed.

And dans that gather oiU the seed;

ComCj aJtert upon the unng,

Dulcet m/usic uttering :

Ye thai o'er the fwrrowed sod

Twitter upon every clod,

MaMng (dl the a/vr rejoice 235

Wiih yofwr soft and slender voice:

Tio, tioy tio, tioj tio, tio, tio, tie.

Ye thai feast on ga/rden fruits.

Nestling 'midst the ivy shoots:

Ye that all the mowntamis throng, \

Olive-croppers, arbule-loppers, ^lo

Haste amd fly to greet my song*

Trioto, trioto, totobrix/

Ye that o'er the marshy flats \

Swallow down the shrHlrmouthed gnals;

Ye that hawnt the deep-dew* d groimd 245

Marathon's sweet meads a/roimd.

Ouzel, and thou of the specMed uri/ng,

Hazelhen, hazelhen, speed while I sing.

Come mxmy, come a/rvy

With the halcyon brood that sweep 250

Sv/rges of the watery deep,

Coma and list to novel words,

Which to hea/r, from far a/nd neofr ^

We gather all the tribes of neck-eastending birds.

Here is a/rrived a sha/rp old ma/n 255

Of revohitioru3t/ry mind.

To revohiiiona/ry deeds inclined:

ASMA II. 12

V6fi€(T0€, (f>v\a fivpia fcpi0OTparf(ov

avrepfioXoytov re yii/rf

Tay(p irero/Meva, fiaXOaKrjv Uirra yrjpvv'

oaa T iv oXjokl OapA

fi&\ov afi^LTLTTU^l^eff cSSe Xewrov 235

aSofiiva ifxovf,'

Tvo Tib Tio no no no nb no.

oaa ff vp.wv xard ktjitov^ iirX Kuraov

/ckdSca-i vofiov ex^h

ra T€ Kar 6p€a rd re Konvorpdya rd re KOfjLapo<f>drya,

dvvaare Trero/iieva irpd^; ifidv dotSdv 241

TpLOTo rpLorb roro^pl^'

oX (f eKeia^ irap av\&va% ol^varopjov^

ifiirlSa^ fedirreff, iaa r evSpoaov^ 7^9 rotrov^s 245

^ere Xeificivd r ipoevra TslapaOAvo^j op-

vi<: irrepcov ttolkIXo^ t drTa/ya*; drToydf;.

&v T hrl irovnov otSfia daXda-a-rj^ 250

if>v\a fier dXKvoveaat irorrjrai,

SeOp' ire irevaofievoc rd vedrepa,

irdvra yap ivOdS^ <f>v\^ dOpottpfiev

ouDvoSv TavaoBelpcjv.

rjKei, yap n^ Bpcfjuv^ irpea^vs 255

KOivh^ yvoofiTjv

Kaiv&v epycDV r iy)(€ipvrv^.

ACT I.

Come aM, cmd listen to his plan.
Hither, hither, hither, hither,

Torotorotorotorotix, soo

Kikkabcm Idkkaba/u,
TorotorotorotorolHUioc
Pei, See you some bird?

Eu, By Apollo, no, not I:

Yet all agape I'm gazing on the sky.

Pei. So then the Hoopoe went into the wood, aes

And mocked the curlew's screaming for no good.
Bird (entering). Torotix torotix.
Pei. Nay, my friend; this very moment here's a bird

approaching close.
Eu. Ay, by Jove ! what bird, I wonder ? 'Tis a peacock,

I suppose.
Pei. Our obliging friend will tell us. What's this bird, Sir 1

kindly say. m

Hoo. 'Tis not one of those accustomed sorts you're seeing

every day.
But a lake-bird.

Eu. O the beauty! What a brilliant tint of flame 1

Hoo. Ajid a very proper colour, for * flamingo ' is its name.

Eu. Holloa, you Sir!

Pei What d'ye bawl at?

Eu. Here's another coming now.

Pei. Yes, another bird, and * holding an uncommon site,'

I vow. \A second bird enters, 276

Pray, Sir, what is that absurd delicate-treading muse-seer bird?
Hoo. Medus is its native title.

PARODOS. 13

aXV IT €9 X070V9 &7ravTay
Bevpo Sevpo hevpo Sevpo.

TOpOTOpOTOpOTOpOTl^. «6o

Ki/cKa/Sav KCKkafiav,

TOpOTOpOTOpOTOpoKCKCKl^,

IIEI. opa^ TLV opvtv;

ET. fut TOP 'AttoWco *7© /lev ov'

teairot Ke^V^^ J ^^ '^^^ ovpavdv ffXeTrtov.
IIEI. aWa>9 dp^ oiiraylr, wv eot« , 69 t'^v Xoyf/iffv 265

OPNI2 Toporl^ Topori^, [Entering,

IIEI. &^affy aX)C odv ovroaX koX hrj ta9 opvi,^ Ipj^erai,

ET, vrj Av opvL^ hr^Ta, rk 'tot iarlv; ov Sijirov raoo^;

IIEI. o5to9 avTo^ v^v (f)pda€L' rfe ia-riv opvt^ ovroa-l; 270

En. o5to9 ov t£v Tjdc&dDV T&v^ &v 6pa0* vfict^ del,

oKXct Xtfivaio^.
ET. ffafial koXo^ ye kclI ^oivlkuov^.

En. eiieoTto^ ye' kol yap ovofi avrm ^arl ^iviKOirrepo^,

ET. o5to9, cS (ri roi.

nEI. rl ficDOTpet^;

ET. ft"e/0O9 opvc^ ovToai

nEI. 1/^ Ar frepo^ Sfjra ;^o5to9 l^eSpov ')((opav iytov, 275

[-4 second bird efrUera,
rk TTOT* &rfl'* o /JLOvaofiavrt^ aroiro^ 6pvi<i d^pofidrr)^ ;

En. Svofia TovTtp M^8o9 eo-r*.

ACT I.

Eu, Medus ? Herakles the king !

Flying in without a camel! Could a Mede do such a thing?

Enter the Chorus of Birds.
Pel O Poseidon ! what a plaguy lot of birds are gather'd
here!
Don't you seel 295

Eu. O king Apollo, what a cloud ! O dear ! O dear !

For their flying now no more can we see the entrance-door.
Hoo, Here's an owL \I71troducing the Goryphaeus,

Pel. What's this you tell me? Who to

Athens brought an owl?
Hoo. Pye and turtle, lark and pigeon, goatsucker and
guinea-fowl,
Hawk and falcon, cushat, cuckoo, redshank, redpole, come in

view,

Gannet) kestrel, diver, osprey, flycatcher, and woodchat too.

Eu, Merrily, merrily come the birds, merrily conle the

blackbirds all : ao5

What a twittering ! what a fluttering ! what variety of squall !

Don't they threaten us ? I fear so : sure with yawning beaks

they blink,
And on you and me are staring.

Pei. You are right, I really think.

Cho, Wh— wh— wh— wh— where is he summon'd me?
in what region feedeth he ? aio

Hoo. Here am I long time expecting: from my friends I
never flee.

Cho. T— t— t— t— tell me, pray, what to-day friendly
word have you to say? 8I6

Hoo. One that's safe and just and pleasant and of public
use, you'll find :

PARODOS. 14

ET. Mr}8o<:; (Sva^ 'UpfixXeii;.

elra tto!? apev Ka/JL7J\ov M^8o9 oov elaeTrrero;

Enter the Chorus of Birds.

IIEI. <S UlaetSop, ovx opa^ oaov avveCkeKrai, fcaxdv

opveoDV ; 295

ET. c3i/af "AttoWoi/, tov i/e^ov^. loif loii,

ouS' IBeiv €T iaff vir avrcov TrerofiivoDv rrjv etaoSov.

EII. avrrji ye y\av^, [Introducing the Coryphcbeua.

IIEI. ri 0279 ; t/9 yXavK ^ kdrjvat^ rfya^ev;

En. xlrra, rpvyciv, Kopvho^y ike&f, viroOvfik, irepurrepa,
vipTO^, lipa^, <f>aTTa, fcq/cKV^, ipv0p6irov<;, Ke/SXtjirvpi^,
irop<f>vpky Kepyyi'ii KoXvfifik, dfiireXi^, <W^> Spvoyfr.

ET. lov iov T&v opvitop, loif lov tcSi/ ko^vxP^V 305

ola ircinrl^ovfri, koI rpexovat SuLfceKpar/ore^,
ap aireCKovalv ye v^v; oI/mcu, Keyi^vaaiv yi roc
Kal iSXeirovaiv €9 a-k xdfii,

IIEI. TOVTO fiev Kcifiol 80K€l.

XO. iroiroiroiroTToiroirov fi ap* 09 i/caXea-e; rlva tottov
apa vi/JL€Tai ; 310

En. ovToal iraXai TrdpcL/ii, kovk diroaTarm <f>tKxov.

XO. TVTLTLTLTLTLTLrlva \6yOV dpu TTOT^ TTpd^ iflk (j>lXov

ix^v ; 315

En. Koivov aa^aXfi hdcaiov rjZvv (o^eKrjGifiov,

ACT I.

Here are two men come to see me, schemers both, of subtle
mind*
Cho, Where? which wayl what do you say?
Hoo, Two old men are come, I answer, hither from the
Isle of Man: 820

And they bring a business with them, solid, of enormous span.
Cho. O you worst of all offenders since I first began to
feed,
What do you tell mel

Hoo. Don't be frighten'd.

Cho. What is this unfriendly deed ?

Hoo. IVe received two men, enamoured of a social league

with you,
Cho. So youVe really gone and done it? 325

Hoo. Aj, and very gladly too.

Cho. And are they now somewhere near us?
Hoc. Yes, if I am near to you.

Oho. Alas, alas / betrayed are we,
Treated with impiety:
He who was &wr friend, who feeds
Nea/r us in ou/r common m^ads, 33a

All owr wncient rules forsaihing,
AU the oaths of birds is breaking;
Lures me to a treacheroios place,
SeUs m^ to am impious race,
Which was ever unto ma
Bred in m^ortal ewmity.

Since it first bega/n to be. 335

But we shall proceed to reckon with the bird another day;
For these two old men, Td have them now the penal forfeit

pay,

PARODOS. 15

avBpe y^p XeuTto aocfycara SeOp' dff>l')(jSov ©9 ifiL
XO. irov ; ira ; -ttcS? <^9 ;
En. ^/i' cm avOpoyiroav affux^cLi Sevpo TTpeajSvTa Svo ' 320

^KCTOv S* e)(pvTe irpifivov irpdyfjLaTo^ ireXmpiov.
XO. cS pAyiCTOV i^a/JLaprdov ef otoi; ^rpcufyrjp iyd,

EH. fi7}iroD ^fir)0'p^ Tov Xoyop.

XO, Tt /tt' elpydaw ;

En. ai/Sp' iBe^dfiTfv ipcborcL rrjaSe 7^9 ^twov<rla^,

XO, /cal BiSpuKa^ tovto rovpyov; 325

En. /cal BeBpaKm^: y Vjiofiai,

XO. KQ/rrhv rjSrf ttov irap rj/uv;

En. 6^ Trap' 1//X61/ e?/x' eyo).

XO. la la,

irpohehofieff avoava r eirdOofiev'

09 7cip if>tKo^ fjv 6p,6Tpo<f>d ff rj/uv

ivi^ero ireSla Trap* rjpZvy 330

irape/Brf fiev deafiov^ apyalov^,

irapi^rf S' ip/cov^i opvCOtov*

€9 8e SoXoi^ e/caXeo-e, irape^aXe r ifjue irapoL

yivo^ dvocLoVy iirep i^or iyiver iir i/j,ol

TToXifjLiov irpd^rj, 335

aWd 7r/)09 tovtov fiev rjiuv iarvv iarrepo^ \6yo<i'

T® he TTpeafivTa Sofcei fioi TciBe Sovvai vvv SIk7)v

ACT I.

And be torn in pieces by us.

Pel, There I all's up with us, you sea

Eu, Tes, and you alone must answer for our dire calamity.
Por what purpose did you lead me thence? ZMi

PeL That you might follow me.

Eu. Nay, that I might cry my eyes out.
Pet. Pack of nonsense that about

Crying; how are you to do it when your eyes are once torn out?
Oho. Ho! forward! ma/rchy advcmce the deadly warWce cha/rge:
Throw out both wingSy a/nd to outfla/nky our front
enla/rge : 345

Since the twain must u^eep a/nd cry.
And pa>sture to the beak supply.
For nor shady mountain lavr.
Nor the cloud that sails in ai/r,

Nor amy depth of Jioa/ry sea 85o

Ma^ shelter them escaped from me.
So let us delay no longer both our foes to tear and bite;
Where's the general of division? let him straight lead on our
right.
Eu, 'Tis the crisis; whither wretched can I fly?
PeL What, won't you stay?

Eu, To be torn in pieces by them? 356

Pel, Can you then invent a way

PAEODOS. . 16

SuKf>oprf6fjval ff v^ fiyi^&v.
nEI. (09 a'iroi)k6^e(T0* apa.

£T, atrto^ fihnot ai> vanf el r&v KaK&v tovtohv fiovo^.

iirl Tt yap fi eKeWev ^769; 340

nEI. Xv* oKokovdolri^ ifioi,

£T. iva fiev ovp icKaoLfH, fieydXa,

nEI. TOVTO fl€V \rjpeC9 €)(<0V

Kopra' 7rc59 KKaiaev ydpy fjv anra^ ye T(i<l)0aXjJi(i

xo.

KKOTTp^ ;

60) 1(0,

eirar/ €7n0* eiriifyepe iroXifiiov

opfiav <f>oviav, TrrepVyd re Travra , 345

irepiPaKe irepl re KVK\a>aaL'

m

w Bei rdS' olfid^eiv afi<fx0

KaX hovvat, pd/i^i <f>opfiav.

ovre ydp opo^ axiepdv oUre pi<f)o^ aWepiov

ovre TToXibv ireXayo^ Sariv o ri Several 350

TcaS' diro^vyovre /Me.

dWa /irj fieXKtofiev rjBrj rdBe rtXXeiv koX Saxveiv.

irov V^' 6 ra^lap^o^; iirayira) to Se^cov Kcpa^,
ET. TOVT €Keivo' irol (f)vya) SiiaTrjvo^;
nEI. 0VT09, ov fieveU ;

ET. IV iirb tovtcdv Buiij>opi]doi ; 355

nEI, 7ra9 ydp av rovjov^ 80/cei^

3

ACT I.

To escape]

Eu, I know none.

Fd, Then I'll tell you how to manage it:

We must make a standing fight, and take some pots from out
our kit.
E%u And what good's a pot to do us?
PeL This the owl will not molest.

Eu, But for these crooktalon'd wretches?
PeL Grasp the spit, and let it rest

In your front full firmly planted. 860

Eu. For the eyes what must be done 1

Pei, Take a saucer or a platter out, and tie it tightly on.
Eu, O you cleverest of conunanders, all your plan is well
designed;
In the art of engineering youVe left Kikias far behind.

Cho, Eleleleu, quick march, present the beak; no moment
for delay:
Haul 'em, tear 'em, smite 'em, flay 'em, striking first the pot
away. aes

Hoo, Vilest of the brute creation, tell me, would you slay
and skin
Two men who have never harm'd you, of my lady's tribe and
kin?
Cho, Spare them ? spare the wolves then : can we punish
a moi^ hostile kind ? 37o

Hoo, Hostile if they are by nature, yet they bear a friendly
mind.
And the tale they're come to tell you profitable you will find.
Cho, Gan it be then to our profit, any tale by these men
told,
Any lesson of their teaching, foemen to my sires of old? S76

PARODOS. 17

ET, ovK olS* iiro)^ av,

IIEI. a\X* ey«i rot <rol Xeya>,

oTi fihfovre Set fJuiyeaBtu Xafifidveiv re r&v j(yrp&v*
ET, tC hi yv'^po, vd y (i(l>€\r](ret ;

IIEL yXav^ fiev ov 7rp6<r€uri v^v.

ET. Tok hk ya/iy^dvv^t roiirSl;
nEI. TOP o/SeXlaKov apiraaa^

elra Karairq^ov irpo aavrov. 360

ET. TolaL S' 6<f>0dKfwtai, rl;

IIEL o^l3a<l>ov ivT€V0€vl irpoahov XajSdop ^ rpv/3\iov.
ET, (3 (ro^wrar, ed yap rjSpe^ avri.Kal arparrjyi/coi^'

virepaKovrl^ei^ av y ^817 'Ni/ciap raJ? firjX'^vo,'^^'
XO* i\eX€\eVi x^P^^* Kode^ to pdfi<f>o^' ov fiiXXeiv ixpV^'

i\K€, r/XXe, irale, Seipe, kotttc irpoiTfjv ttjv yvTpav, 365
En. ehrk fioi, tI fieWer, (S iramoDV Kcucia-Ta OrfpCav,

diroXiaai iraffovre^ ovSev avSpe xal huLcrirdaai

T7J<i ifiTJ^ yvvaiKO^ ovTe ^vyyevrj koX (fyvXera ;
XO. <l>€ia6fi€ada yap tc ToivBe fiaWov rjfiel^; fj XvKmv'y

tj Tiva^ Tiaaifieff oKKov^ tcSvS' av ixOiov^ ctl; 37a
En. o2Se T171/ ^vatv fi€v e')(jSpoX top Sk povp elavp ^l\oi,

Kal StSd^opTC^ TC Sevp* iJKOVtrip i/Jbd^ j(pi]aifiop,
XO. TTcS? S* ap otS' i^fia^ Ti xpriaiiiop hcha^eidp irore

fj (Ppdaeiapy opTe^ ix'^P^^^ Toiac irdmroi^ toa9 ifiot^ ; 375

3—2

ACT L

Uoo» Much instruction do the wise gather from their
enemies :
*Good precaution's sure salvation': this from friends you never

learn;
$ut your foeman puts the screw on, and 'tis taught you to

a turn.
Foes, not friends, instructed nations fortresses and fleets to

make :
And this lesson saves their children, homes, and all they have
at stake. sso

(7Ao. Well, indeed, in my opinion, giving audience to
their speech
May be useful to begin with : something wise a foe may teach.
Fj&i, Now their wrath they seem to slacken ; so retire a
step or two. [Aside to Euelpides,

Boo» What you said is common justice, and your thanks
to me are due. [To the Chorus.

Cho, Ne'er on any other question have we been opposed
to you. [To the Hoopoe. 886

Fei. They're more peaceful than before; so the pot and
dishes lower : [As he/ore.

For the spear (I mean the spit), we must still be holding it.
As, we pace the encampment, peeping 390

O'er the kettle's rim, and keeping v

Good look-out : we must not fly.

Cho. Now again your steps retrace ;
Wheel into your former place : ^ 4«o

Stooping there in hoplite fashion
Ground your temper next your passion,
That by inquiry we, may find
Whence come this pair, and with what mini 406

PAHODOS. 18

EII. a\X' air l')(Qp&v Brjra iroWci fuivdavovaiv ol <TO(f)ol.
rj ydp evXd/Seia ad^ec irajna, irapa fiev ovv <f>IXov
ov fidffot^ av Tov0\ 6 S' €')(6pd^ €v0d<i i^rfvdy/caa-ev.
avrlx o>i iroXcL^ Trap* dvhpwv efiaOov ixOp&v kov ^CK(ov
i/cTTovetv 0* vylrrjXd relxv vclv^ T€ /eeKTrjadat, /latepd^.
TO Se fidOrjfia tovto ad^et TraiSa^, ol/cov, ^(prifiaTa, 380

XO. eari fiev Xojayv aKOVcat irp&roVy W9 ripdv Soxei,

y^p'^o'cfiov' fidOoi^ yap av tl Kair^ r&v i-^jSprnv <T0<f>6p.

IIEI. oJSe T^9 opyrj<i y^aXaP €i^a<nv. dvarf hrX aKeko^,

[Aside to Euelpidea,

En. Kal Bixaiov y earl Kafiol Sel vifieiv ifia^ ')(dpLv.

[To the Chorus.

XO. dXKd firjv ovS* dWo aoi iron TTpdypi! ivqvrtdii^Ba, 385

[To the Hoopoe.

IIEI. fiSXKov elpijVTfv ar/ova-t vrj At*, dare Trjv yvTpav

rd re rpv^iw KaOleC t^^ ^^Z^^-

Kal TO Sopv 'xpy, TOP ofieXlaKOVy

ireptiraTelv ej(pvTa<; rffia^

T&v iifKxov ivTo^, Trap ovttiv 390

TTjv yyrpav aKpav op&ma^

^771/9 * ©9 01/ ^€VfCT€0V V&V,

XO. avarf* 69 Ta^iv iroKi/v €9 TavTOv, 400

ical Tov dvfiov KaTddov Kip^a^
irapd TTjv opyrjv wa-irep oirXlrrj^'
KapaTTvOdfieOa Tovaie Tive^i ttotc
Kab iriOeu ffioXov tlvi t iTTCvoia, 405

ACT I.

Sir Hoopoe, you I call : what ho !

Hoo, What does your caUing seek to know?

Cho, Who are these ? whence come they ? tell us.

Hoo, Strangers both from clever Hellas.

Cho. To the birds what fortune brings 'em? 410

Hoo. Love of birds and birdlife stings 'em.
Dwellers with you they would be,
Ever of your company. 4i5

Cho, What's this story that you tell?
What proposals do they make?

Hoo, Incredible, incredible,
Far too large for ears to taka

Cho. His proposals unto me
Bid him utter, utter,
Listening to the tale, you see.
Sets me all a-flutter.

Poo, Now you and you this panoply take back 436

And hang it up, in prospect of good luck.
Within the kitchen by the plate-rack's side.
And you. Sir, make the statements, which to hear
I summon'd these : expound. \To PeUhetairoa,

Peu Not I, by Apollo !

Unless they make the covenant with me, mo

Which with his wife that ape the sword-wright made,

PARODOS. 19

1(0 eTTO*^ (ri roc icaXtS.
En. /caXeU Bi rov Kkueiv OeKoav^y
XO. Ta/€9 iroff o28e KaX ir60ev\
En. ^ev(o ao^rjf; a<f> *EXXaSo9.
XO. T^xn B^ irola KOfulr 4»o

fe^ iroT avToi irpd^ op-

viOa^ ikOelv ;
En. ^/)a)9

/8/ov itatrq^ re #cal

cofi ^voLKelv re aoi

KoX ^vvelvcu rd irav. 4^5

XO. t/ 02^^; Xiyovav S^ r/i/a? \o70i/9;
En. aTTKrT, diriara koX irepa Kkiiecv.
XO. XSyecv Xer/eLV xiXevi fioi,

\6ya)v dveirripoDfiai.

En. dye S^ aif KoX ai Trjv iravoirXlav fikv irakiv 435
TavTTjv Xa^ovTe Kpe/Jbdaarov Tifya^o^dy
€9 Tov hrvhv eXaay ir\t]Giov TOViria-rdTov'
(n> Be TovcS' €^' olarirep to?9 X07049 trvviXe^^ €7©
(fypdaov, SlSa^ov, [To Feithetairos,

nEI. /xa TOV 'AttoWg) *7(» /x^j/ ov,

^1/ /x?) Sc<l0<ovTai y olBe BcaO'^Kffv ifiol 440

fjvirep 6 irLOrjKo^ tJ yvvawX BiiOero

. ACT I.

That they won't bite me.

Cho, Good : I covenant.

Pel, Then swear it.

Cho, Well, I swear: if I am faithful,

Then, by the votes of all the judges here, 445

And all spectators, the first prize be mine.
PeL Accepted.

Cho. But, if I transgress the oath,

Then by one judge's casting-vote — I win.

Hoo. Oyez, oyez ! let every hoplite now
Take up his armour and go home again.
And note our proclamations on the signboards. 450

Cho, At every time, on every side, Strophe.

MarCa crafty ruiture is descried.
Tet freely speak your mind:
For haply you may find
Some useful character in me,

Some migldier faculty, 465

To which my witless thoughts neW tra/oeUed,
By your acuter sense wnravelled.
Such vantage-ground if you Jiave fou/nd,
Unto the public ear the case expound:
Since aU of good you gain for wae
Owr comm,on property shall he.
So whatever be the thing you with full conviction bring, 480

Let it now be boldly spoken : for our truce will not be broken.

PARODOS. 20

6 fia'^aipOTTOcS^, firj hcuKveiv TOvrov<: ifiL
XO. . BiarlOefJiai '70$.

IIEI. Karofioaov wv ravrd fjLot.

XO. ofjLvvfi iirl TOVTOt^, iraat vlkclv toI^ Kptral^ 445

KaX Tol^ OeaToi^ irdacv,
IIEI. €<nat ravrayi.

XO. el S^ Trapa^airjv, evl Kpcry vixdv fiovov.
En. aKovere Xeoo* toi)9 ofrX/ra? vvvfievl

dveKofievov^ Ooiir^ dirievai itoKlv olxahe,

cTfcovetv S* o Tt av 7rpoypd(f)(Ofi€V iv toI<; iriva-

KLOl<S. 450

XO. SoXepov fjLev del Kara irdma Srj rpoirov
ire^vKev avdptoiro^' ai> S* 2S/ia)9 X.€7e fxoL,
Ta'Xfi yap rv'^pi^ av
XprjoTov i^eiird^v 2 tl fwv irapopdr, rj
Svvafiiv Tcva fiei^o) 455

irapaXeiiropAv'qv vir ifJirj^; <f>pevo<; d^vvirov'
cri) Be TOV0* ovpa^ \er/ €9 kolvov,
o yap dv av tv^U^ f^oc
dryaOov iropUra^^ tovto kolvov earai,
dX)C e(f)* oTtpirep irpdrffuiTC T'^v arjv ^Kei<; yvdp/qv

dva7r€l<ra<;y 460

Xeye dapprjaa^' ©9 Ta9 a7rovBd<: ov firj irporepoi

TrapajScSfiev,

ACT I.

FeL My mind, be sure, is eagerly at work, e'en now indeed
One ready-leaven' d argument the time is come to knead.
Ho, boy, a crown ! and here, some slave, bring water quick,
my hands to lave.
JSti, Is there a dinner in the wind? or what are we to

have?
Fd. No : but I've long desired to speak a big well-£atten'd

word, 466

By which the nation here may feel its spirit deeply stirr'd ;
So sorrowful am I for you, who anciently were kings.
Cho. We kings ? of what ?

Fei. Indeed you were, of all existing things;

Of me, my friend here, Jove himself. Ere Kronos was, ye

were ;

Before the Titan brood and Earth. 470

Cho. And Earth?

FeL 'Tis true, I swear.

Cho. I never heard, so help me Jove ! a word of this
before.

Fei. You're such a dull incurious lot, unread in Aesop's
lore;
Whose story says, the lark was bom first of the feathered quire.

EPEISODION I. 21

IIEI. Kal iifflf dpj£ vrj rdv Ala xal irpawe^vparaL X0709

ov BuifidiTeiv qv Kaoikvei' i^ipe iral are^avov* Karar

'Xl^laOai,
Kara x^ipo^ vB(op tpepero) Tayy ta9.
ET. Betirvi^a-eiv fiiWo/iev; fj rl;

IIEI. fia AC dWd \iy€Lv ^ffrS rpliraTuii fieya /cal \apiv6v
CTTO? T*, 465

8 Tt T^v TovTfov 0pavcr€i '^I'Xiyi'* oiJTft)9 v/j,£v tnrep"

oTrive^ OI/T69 irporepov jSaacXfj^
XO. rjfieh ficuriKr}^ rlvo^ rjfiep ;

IIEI. Trdirraov 6w6<r* iariv^ i/iov irpSrov, rovBl, xal rod
Ato9 avTov,

dpj(at6T€poc irporepol re Kpovov koI Hcrdvav eye-

V€ar0€y

Kol 7^9. 470

XO. teal 7^9;

IIEI. 1/1) Tov 'AttoW©.

XO. tovtI fjLa AC ovK iireirjia'fifjv*

IIEI. dfiaSri^ yap €(j>v^ kov iroXvn'pdyfKov, ovB^ AXacyirov
ireirdrTiKaSy
09 €<l>aaK€ Xeywi/ KopvSov irdvTcov irpdniv 6pvL0a
yeviaOai,

ACT I.

Before the earth ; then came a cold and carried off his sire :
Earth was not : five days lay the old bird untomb'd : at last

the son
Buried the father in his head, since other grave was none. 475

Eu. The father of the lark lies dead, I understand, ^at
Buryhead.

Pel. If then before the gods they were, and earlier than
the earth, [Taking no notice of Ey^lpides,

Is not the kingdom theirs of right by eldership of birth?

Eu. True, by Apollo ! so resolve henceforth a beak to rear :

The sceptre soon will Jove restore unto the woodpecker. 4eo

Pel, There's ample proof that birds, not gods, of yore were
lords of men [As before.

And kings : first I'll produce the cock, who ruled the Persians
then,

Ere aught was of Darius or of Megabazus heard ;

And still, from that arqhaic rule, he's called the Persian
bird. 485

EPEISODION I. 22

itporepav T^9 7^75, Kdireira v6<T(p top 'irarip avrf}^

dirodvrjo-icuv'
7^1/ K ovK elvaty top Se rrpoKeladat nreiinrralov* rrjp

S' airopovaav
vir dfiijj(avia^ rov irarkp avT7J<i iv ry K^^aXfi

Karopv^ac, 475

ET, 6 irarrjp apa t^9 /copvBov vvvl Kelrai reOpew^ Ke-

<l>aXrj<rLP.
nEI. ovKovp hfiT el irporepoL fiep 7^9 irporepoi Bk de&p

iyepoPTO, \Ta1dng no notice of Eudpides,

o59 irpeapxrraTaap avrdip opraop 6p0(S<; eaff* 77 jScuriXela;

ET. prj TOP ' AttoWo) • irdpv toIpvp ')(pfj pvyy(p.f; fioa-xeip ae

TO Xoiirop'
(W9 diroBdaec Tax€(o^ 6 Zei)9 to aKfjiTTpop t£ BpuKo-

XdirT'ff. 480

nEI. cl)9 oi5%l Oeol Tolpvp '^px'^v '''^^ dpOpcoTroDP to

TToXaiop, [As before.

dXX* oppcde^y /cdfiaclXevop, ttoW* iari TC/cfiijpui tovtcjp^
avTiKa S* vfup TTp&T iiriBel^fo top d\€/CTpv6p*y ©9

iTvpdppei
VPX^ re Uepa-wp irdpTtop irpotepo^' Aapelov koX M€7a-

Pd^ov,
(Sore KtiKelTai irepaiico^ oppv^ diro 7^9 dpyr}^ €t

iK€iprj<:, 485

ACT L
Eu, like the great king he therefore struts, and on his
head, full-drest,
Alone of all the birds he wears erect the turban crest.

Pel. So strong was he, so mighty then, so big, that to this
hour, {As he/ore.

When he his matin alto sings, in memory of that pow'r 4B9
Smiths, potters, tanners, cordwainers, tradesfolk of every guild,
Comfactors, bathing men, and such as frame the lyre and shield,
Spring up to work: ere close of night some cloak-marauders
start.

Eu, Ask me to give that evidence: I know it to my

smart;
I lost a cloak of Phrygian wool all through that bird, I did:
For, to a baby's naming-feast being in the city bid,
I drank a rouse and dozed awhile; then crew this cock ere

yet 486

The rest had supped: I surely thought 'twas mom, and ofif

I set
To Alimus; but scarce I'd poked my nose beyond the wall,

A footpad's bludgeon smote my back, I fell and tried to bawl :

EPEISODION I. 23

ET. SiA rauT dp* e^<ov koI vvv Sairep ^curiXei^ 6 fiiya^

€7rl T^9 /c€^a\^9 Tfjv Kvpfiaalav rSv opvLdcDV /aovo^

6p07]v.
IIEI. ovTO) S' iaxv^ re Kol fiiya^ ^p t6t€ koI ttoXv^, &crT

€Ti KOI vvv {As before,

dird T^9 pcofirjf; t^9 tot' eKelvrj^, birorav v6/iov SpOpiov

avamii&crLv iravre^ iir Ipyov, %aX/c^9, fcepafifj^;^ cr/cv-

\oShjraif 490

(TKVT^^, ^a\avfj<;, dXApira/Moifiol, ropvevroXvpaairiBo'

ot Sk ^aSl^ovtr dTroBitrovre^ vdicrtop.
ET. ifik TovTO y ipcira.

XKatvav ydp diroiT^a 6 fio')(07]pd^ ^pvyicov iplcov htd

TOVTOV.

€9 Setcdrrjv yap ttotc iraiZaplov KkrfdeU ifireinvov iv

aaT€i,
tedpTC KaOijvSov, Kal irplv Becirvetv toi^<: akXov^ oSro^

dp' ya-ev' 495

xdyd vofilaa^ Spdpov e)(p^povv 'AXifjuovvrdSe^ Kapri

TrpoKVTrra}
€^(0 rel'x^ov^ koI XfoiroSvTrj^ iraUt, poirdXtp fie to

VWTOV

ACT I.

But, ere I could so much as moan, my cloak was slipt, my
robber flown.

Fd, Ay, and a kite was ruling then the Hellenes, and

was king. [As before,

Cho. The Hellenes? 500

Fd, Yes; and in his reign it first became the thing

To drop a reverence to the kites.

^ifc By Bacchus ! 'twas my fate,

Spying a kite, to make my bow: then, tossing back my pate,
Down the red lane my money went, and I was forc'd to drag
Back to my home, all supperless and sad, an empty bag.

Fei. So mighty was their sway that if in some Hellenic
town [As before.

A king, as Agamemnon or his brother, wore the crown,

A bird upon their sceptres sat, the many bribes to share. 610

What strikes me most, the present Zeus a bird, an eagle, wears

Upon his statue's head, as king: an owl his daughter bears:

Apollo has a little hawk, as a .mere serving-man. sie

Eu, Bight, by Demeterl and now what's the reason of
the plan?

Feu That, when a sacriflcer puts, according to our use, sis

EPEISODION I. 24

Korfw irhnto /leXXto re fioaVf o 8' o/irefiTuiTe Ooifmrvov
fiov.

IIEI. iicTlvo<; S' ovv rwv '^Wijvcov ^fyx^v rore Ka^curlXevev.

[As before.
XO. T&v 'EW?7i/a)i/; 500

IIEI. Kol KariSei^iv y ovro^ irp&TO^ ^aaCkevGuv

irpoKoXivheiadai to?9 IktIvol^*

ET. vfi TOP ^Lovvaov, iyto yovv

CKaXivBovfj/rfv IktIvov-ISoov, Kaff xrimof; &v ava'^d<TK(ov

606\6v KaTe^poy^Bcaa' Kara Kevov top OvKaKov oIkoS

d(j>€iXKov,

IIEI. fjpxov S' ofirtt) a'<f>6hpa rrjv dpy^^v, &<tt el tl^ koX

fiaaOuevoL [As before,

€v rah iroXeaiv t&v '^DsXrivtov ^ Ayafiifivcov rj lAeveXao^^

hrX T&v a-KrjTTTpoDV iKaBryr opvi^ ps,Tk')(wv 2 ri Btopo-

Botcolf). 510

o Be Seivorarov y eoTtj/ aTravrtov' 6 Zeif^ yap 6 vvv

/SadKevayv 514

derovopvLV ea-rrjKev 6j((ov iirl rrj^ Ke(j>a\fj^ fiaaiXevfiav,

17 8' ad Ovydrrjp yXxivy^y 6 S' ^ AiroXKoav &anrep

depdirtov lepaKa,

ET. 1/77 T-fjv A7}/jLr)Tp' ev ravra Xeyet^;, rlvo^ oTLfveKa ravr

ap iypvaiv ;

IIEI. Xv irav 0v(ov rt? enrevr aifTol^i €9 rfjv xetp', oS? vofw^

ecrrlvy 518

4

ACT I.

The entrails in the hand, these birds may take them before

Zeus.
No man would then swear by a god, but all men by the birds,
And Lampon still adjures the goose to back his cheating

words. — 621

Once, you see, you were high in place,
Once a great and a holy race.
Holy and great by all men deem'd,
Now as the merest jacks esteem'd.
If in their temples you now alight.

They pelt you like any bedlamite: 62b

And the cunning fowlers for you set
Snare and springe, twig, trap, gin, cage and net:
Then they catch and sell you by the score.
And the buyers feel and pinch you sore: sao

Till, at last, when comes the sad decree.
They don't even roast you decently;
But the grated cheese they first prepare,
Adding silphium, oil and vinegar.

And they rub in these with cruel care:

Then a isauce they heat that's rich and sweet, 686

And drench you with it^ like dry dog's meat.

EPEISODION L 25

ra anrKay^va SvS^, tov Acd^ ovtol irpSrepoc ra

S/ijru T ovBel^ TOT av dvBpdnroav OeoVy aXK* opvcOa^
airavT&i * 520

A.ap/rr(ov S' 6fivv<r iri koX vuvl t6v J(^v*, Ztuv
i^airaTq, ti.

o{;Tft)9 vfid^ 7rai/T€9 irpoTCpov fieydkov^ ayiov9 t
ivofMi^ov,

vvv S' av fiava^'

Sairep S' ijBr) Toi>^ fiaivofiivov^

fidWova Vfia^ xdv tol^ UpoK, 535

7ra9 Tt9 €9 VfJLLV O OpVlU€VTrj^

t(rTr)<ri I3p6j(pv<;, iraylBa^, pd/SSov^,

Ip/crj, v€<f>eKa^y Sl/CTva, injiCTd^'

elTa XalSojrre^ ircoXovtr ddpoov^*

ot S' dvovmac l3\ifid^ovT€9' 530

Kov^ ovv, elirep Taxna Soicei Spap,

omrria'dfievob irapeOevff vfia^, .

dX)C iiriKvooinv Tvpov, eXaiov,

a'tk<f>u}v, o^o^y KaTaTpt^avTe^

KaTd'^ap! €T€pov y\v/cv /cal XtirapSv, 535

KairetTa tcaTecKiiaaav Oepp^ov

TOVTO Kaff vp,&v

avtov Aairep Keve/SpeCfov.

4—2

ACT I.

Cho. By fcvr^ mcm^ alas I by fwr AwUstrophe,

These tales of aU moat cruel a/re
Which to mine ea/ra you bring,

And from ms tears you vyring 64k>

For those my cowa/rd sires, who cofuM
Thus ccMreless of my good
Abandon mighty privileges
Sent doum from old amcest/ral ages.
But, as youWe corns by hea/oen^s decree
And ha/ppy chamjce a samou/r unto me, 646-

My nestlings and mysetf I gvue
In you/r protectorate to live.
Forthwith then teach us what to do: since life's not worth

the name,
Unless by fair means or by foul our kingdom we reclaim.
Fei, First then I teach that of the birds one city you
shall found, 66o

And next that all this atmosphere that circles you around,
And all the ways that intervene the earth and sky between,
With huge baked bricks, like Babylon, be walled about by you.
Fu. O Gog and Magog, what a town ! how terrible to

view I

Feu When this has gain'd its perfect height, reclaim from

Zeus the sway : [Ignorin^g hvm.

And if he won't knock under straight, but still returns a * Nay,'

Announce to him a sacred war, and notify the gods 666>

EPEISODION I. 26

XO. TToXi) Srj iroXu Si) 'xaXeirayrdrovf; \6yov^

rjpeyKa^, av0ptoff>' (09 iScucpvad y ifi&v 540

'jraripcov /ecucrjv, ot

rdo'Se Tct^ rcfid^ Trpoyovcov irapaidvrtov

hr ifiol KariKvaaVy

av Si fioi Kara halfiova ical rcva awrv^lav

dyaOrjv fjKei^ ifiol a-torrjp, 545

dvaOeX^ ycLp iyoj aoi

rd re vorria Kafiavrov oiKereiiaoD.

aXV 8 ri ^(pfj Spav, ai> BlBcuTKe irapoiv' a>9 S^v ovfc

a^iov Vfiiv,
el p,rj feofiiovfj,€0a iraml rpoirtp t^v i^fieripav PaaCKelav,
IIEI. KaX hrj Tolvvv irp&ra BiBda-KOD filav opvldtov irSXcv

elvai, 550

K&ireLTa rhv dipa irdma KvicX/p ical irav rovrl to

fiera^
7r€piT€c^l^€iv fjL€yd\cu9 7r\lv0oi^ oTTTah &<nrep Hafiv-

ET. cS K,€l3pi6pa teal Jlop^vpUoVy (09 trfiepSaXeov t6 irSXi^fia,

IIEI. Kaireir fjv tovt iTravearrj/crj, rrjv dpyrjv rhv AC

dirairelv [Ignormg Iwm,

/eav fiep firj <f>y firjS* 6^6X170*17 fivj^ €v0i>^ yvaxrifior-

Xn<nj> 555

iepov irokefiov TrpcovSav avr^, kciI roiat Oeounv diretirelp

ACT I.
They must not pass, as heretofore, through your august abodes
A courting of their Semeles, Alkmenas and the rest:
Such contraband amours shall now most strictly be supprest.
To men you'll also send a bird as herald with these words :
'Henceforth, as birds are reigning, you must sacrifice to birds,
And to the gods in second rank : whereto must be assigned
For every god a proper bird, the fittest you can find.
Aphrodite's sacrifice crumpets for the coot implies; 666

If a sheep Poseidon gain, wheat-corn let the duck obtain;
Gomes for Herakles a treat? honey-cakes the gull must eat;
If king Zeus a ram delight, we've our kingbird, who by right,

Zeus himself preceding, can claim a slaughter'd gnat from man/

Eu, Slaughter'd gnat ! charming that ! let him thunder now,
great Zan! 67o

Gho. All the work, where strength is needed, be to us
assign'd,
While to you shall be committed all requiring mind.

Hoo. Now, let me tell you, there's no further time
To nod and shilly-shallyi Kikias-like; 6io

EPEISODION I. 27

Sea T^9 X^P^^ '^^^ vfieripa^ firj/cer ipSaiv Bui<t>oiTav,
&<nrep irpSrepov rct^ ^AXtciiTJva^ koX ra^ Se/xeXa?

iSlfOKOV.

To'k 3' dvOpdiroi^ opvvv Srepov iri/iylrat tajpvKa KeXevo),
(09 opvldoDv fiaaiXevovToav Bveiv opvcac to Xoiirov,
Kairevra 6eok i<rr€pov av0c^' irpoavelfiaaOaA he irpe-

TTOvrao^
Touri deouTLV t&v opvlOav 09 av dpfiorrrj Kaff eKaarov,
tjv *Ail>poSlT7j Oijy, ffupov^ SpviOi <l>aXn]piSL Ov^iv' 565
fjv he HoaeiZ&vl t^9 olv Ovy, vrfrrri irupoif^ KaOaryl^eip,
fjv S* ^UpaKhAei, OJyai, Xaptp paaToi>^ Oveiv fieXi-

Tovvra^'
K&v Atl OvTf fiaaCKel Kputv, fiaaCKeu^ ear opx^^^^o^

opvi^y
^ irporiptp hel rov Aid^ avrov aep^ov ivop^rjv

a-ffxvyuiietv,
ET. rj(r07)V <rip(f>q> a^ar)/uii^opAv(p* fipopTdra) vvv 6 fJLeytK

Zdv, 570

XO, dXX* iaa phf hel pthp/Q irpdrreiv, iwl ravra rera^ofieff

iaa hk T^co/Lwy hel fiov\€vecv, evl aol rdhe irdvr
dvdKevrai.
En. ical iki)v pA TOP Ar oir)(i pvard^eip y Sri

&pa ^otIp i^pXp ovhk p^Wopuciop, 640

ACT I.

But something mnst be done forthwith. First enter
And view my nest, my straws and stock of firewood:
And let us know your names.

Fei, An easy matter.

My name is Feithetairos, and my friend's
Euelpides of Krio. 6i6

ffoo. Welcome both.

*

Pei, We thank you.

Hoc, Enter in then.

Pei, Certainly.

Pray take and introduce us.

Hoo, Forward, then.

Pei, Yet something strikes me : just come back awhile,
Let's see: please tell us, how will he and I,
Non-flyers, live on terms with you that flyf 6bo

Hoc, Pluck up your spirits: there's a certain root,
Which when you've eaten, youll at once have wings. aes

Pei, Then let us enter in. Ho, Xanthias
And Manodoros, take the baggage up.

Cho. Sir, with you a word or two I

Hoo. What »

Cho, Let these men lunch with you

Bravely: but the musical, most melodious nightingale

EPEISODION I. 28

oXV ©9 T&^iora Set ri hpav* irp&rov Si ye

etaiKder 69 veomav re rrjv ifirjv

teal rdfict Kapif>'q KaX ra irapovra <f)pvyava,

KoX ToivofJb rffiiv ^pdcarov,
IIEI. dWa paSioVm

i/Mol fjL€P 6vofia TletOeraipo^, rtoSeSl

TSive\irlBrj<; Kpi&Oev, 645

En. dXXA y^aiperov

dfi^to,

IIEI. SexofieOa.

EH. Sevpo rolvvv eXairov.

IIEI. ttofiev' ela-Tfyov aif Xaficov rifia<;,
EH. lOt.

IIEI. drdp TO Selva Sevp* eiravdfcpovaai irdXiv,

^ip tStOy <f>pdaov v^v, 7r(i39 iyci re 'xpvroal
^vvea-ofieff ppZv irerofievoi^ ov wero/iiva) ; 650

EH. fif)Skv (I>ol3r)60^' ioTi yap ri pl^tov,

8 SiarpaySpr i<re<r6ov iirreptafiivoD, 655

IIEI. ovreo fih/ euriw/iev. ar/e Si], Sav0la

KaX "MavoSdope, \afil3dvere rd oTpd/Mara.

XO. o5ro9, a-e kcCKA, <rk KaX&,

En. ri Ka\elii\

XO. rovrov^ fikp dr/ayv fierd cov vvv

dplaruTOV eS' rfjv S* 'qSvfieKrj ^{f/KJxavov drjSiva Movaai^

ACT I.

Summon f orth, and let her stay here awhile, with us to play, oao

Fei. Pray, Sir, refuse not: speak a friendly word,
And from the rushbrake fetch the little bird.

Eu, Tes, bring her hither: let their suit prevail,
That we too may behold the nightingale.

Hoo. If both desire, I must : out, Frokne dear, ess

And be presented to the strangers here.

The Nightingale enters from, the huah,

Fei. Wide-honour'd Zeus ! a charming birdie this.
And wearing heaps of gold, like some young Miss. 670

Bu, I want to kiss her.

Fei. That's a maddish freak :

She's got a pair of scissors for a beak.

Uu. But from her noddle I could peel the shell.
As from an egg, and kiss her very well

Hoo. Come, let's be moving. e76

FeL Lead the way, my friend.

And may good fortune still our steps attend.

\Exemit Hoopoe, Feithetad/ros, Eudpidea, amd Slivoes.
[The Coryphaeus chcmte or mtonea the first Fa/rahaaie.

Oho. my ownie, O my brownie, {Kommciiwn)

Bird of birds the dearest.
Voice that mingling with my lays

Ever was the clearest.
Playmate of my early days.

Still to me the nearest.
Nightingale, thus again

EPEISODION L 29

KaTakei<l> rj/up Bevp* iKficficuraf:, Xva irala-cofiev fi€T
ixelvrj^, 660

ELEI. S TovTo fihrroi, vrj AC avrotatv ircOov*
eKpLpofrov i/c rod ^ovto/mov rovpvlOiov,

ET« iK^lfiaaov avrov wpo^ 0€(Sp auTtjv, ha

teal v<o Oeaadfjiea'da Tfjv dr)S6va.
En, dXX ei hoKel a(f>^v^ ravra 'xprj Spav, 97 Upotcvrj, 665

iic^aLve KoX aavrijv iiriBeiKw roiv ^ivovp.

The Nightingale enters Jrom the bush.

nEL (3 ZeS iro\vTlp/q0* , (09 /ca\6p rovppldiop.

oaop S' ^€t t6p j(pva6p, wawep irapOevo^, 670

ET. eyci ^bkp ainrrjp kolp <l>t\r}a'al fiov SoKoi.
IIEL dXK*, (3 KcueoBaifiop, pdpA^o^ ofieXlo'Koip e^e^.
ET, aW' &<nrep w6p prj AC diroKey^apra j(prj

dirb TTJ^ K€<l>a\r}^ ri Xififia Kaff o{;r(o if>CK£lp.
En. i(Ofi€P. 67s

IIEL ^7o5 81) en) p^p TV)(dya0^,

[Exeimt Hoopoe, Feithetairos, EuelpideSy and Slaves.

[The Coryphaeus cha/nts or inUmes the first Pwrcibasis.
XO. dS ^/X?7, & ^ovOriy
(3 ^CkraTOP oppidop
irdpTtop, ^vppofie t&p ifi&p
ifipapy ^prpo^ dffBol,

ACT I.

Do I meet thee, do I greet thee, eso

Bringing to me thy sweet strain!

Skilfullest of artists thon
To soft trillings of the flute
Vernal melodies to suit,

Our homily demands thy prelude now.
[The Nigktmgale plays a flute symphony,

(Pa/rahasis proper)
Ho ! ye men dim-lived by nature, closest to the leaves
in feature, 686

Feeble beings, clay-create, shadowy tribes inanimate.
Wingless mortals, in a day, doleful, dreamlike, swept away;

Note the lessons that we give, we the immortals form'd to

live.
We the ethereal, the unaged, with undying plans engaged :
That, when ye have heard aright all our lore of highest

flight, eoo

Birds and what their true creation, gods and what their
generation.

All the rivers running through Erebos and Chaos too,

Ye may cry, well trained by us, * What care we for Prodikos ? '

Chaos was and Night of yore in the time all times before,

And black Erebos beside Tartaros extending wide.

Earth, Air, Heaven were yet unknown, in huge Erebos alone

PARABASIS I. 30

fj\0€<:, '^\0€<;, cS<l>07ff;, 680

fJSw/ (f)06yyov ifiol (f^epova'

a\V (S /caXTufioav Kpixova

av\6v <f>0€yfjuiaiv rjpivol^y •

dpxov T&v dvaTraiarfov.

[The Nightingale plays afliUe symphony,

clye 87) {fyvaiv avBpe^ d/Mavpo^ioc, 0t;Wa>x/ y€V€^ irpoa-

OflOtOl, 685

6\ir/oBpave€^f irXaa-fiara irrjXov, aKcoeiSia <f>v\^ d-

fiepTfvdy
aTTT^i/e? i^fiepioi raXaol fipoTol, dvep€<s el/ceT^vetpot,
7rp6a")(^6T€ rdv vovv to?9 d0avdTOt^ 'qpZv to?9 alev

iova-tv,
T0t9 aWeploi^, TOiaiv dyrjp(p^, Toi; a(f>0iTa p/rjSofiivota'iv,
Xv aKOvaavTe^ iravra irap r)p.&v op0&^ irepl t&v

lierewptovy 690

^vciv ouovoov ryepealv re 0€£v iroraii&v r ipefiov^ re

J(doV^ T€

elBoTC^ 6p0(S^ trap ifiov, UpoBUtp xXdecv ecTrrjre to

'\oL7r6v,
;^ao9 Tjv Kal vv^ epe^o^ re /juiXav irp&Tov koX rdpTapo^;

€vpv^'
yfj 8' ouS* d'^p ov8* ovpavb^ fjv' ip€J3ov<; S' iv direipoai

icokiroi^

ACT I.

First, our oldest legend sajs, black-wing'd Night a wind-egg

lays; ees

Which, as circling seasons move, brings to birth the charmer

Love,
Bright with golden wings behind, semblant to the whirling

wind.
In the vast Tartarean shade him the dull dark Chaos made
Sire of us: we nestled there till we saw the light of

air.
Race immortal there was none till Love's sorcery was begun:
But, when all things mixed in motion, rose the sky, the earth,

the ocean, 701

And the blessed gods were made, everlasting, undecay'd.
Thus of all the blessM we far the oldest claim to be;
And that we are sons of Love many facts agree to prove :
Still we fly our daily round, still with lovers we are

found;
Cruel hearts will oft relent, if a pretty bird is sent;
And a quail, or goose, or dove, wins th^ victory for Love.

PARABASIS I. 31

rUr€L TrpdrioTOV vTrrjvifitov vif^ 17 fie\av6irT€p09

€p6p, 695

ef oS TrepireWofiivai^ Spai^ ipKaarev epco^ o irodetvo^,

o-tCK^odv v&tov TTTcpvyoLV 'xpvo'aivy eiKoo^ dve/Moo/eeo't

oSto^ 'Xpj&i' riepoemi p>i^ei<i vvy^ltp Kord raprapov

evpdv
iveorrrevo'ev 70/09 rjfierepov, xal irp&Tov ainf/ar^ev €9

trpinepov S* ovk ffv 761/09 dOavdreov, irpXv ipa^ ^we-
fii^ev &7rairra' 700

^vfifiiyvvfi4v€ov S' iripcov iripoi^ yiyov ovpav6^
toKeavo^ re

Kcu, yrj irdvrtov re Oe&v fiaxaptav 7^1/09 a<f>0$Tov, SSe
fi€V ia-fiev

iroXv Trpea-jSyraroi irdirrayv futKapoDV rjfJLet^. co9 S'

^oWoZ9 S^Xoj/* TTerofiea'Od re ydp koI rotaw ipSci

avveafiev'
iroWol 8* drvxei^ ovre^ irporepov iv<rirpa/^ovvre^ r

ev epcori
elff wv hroOovv Zih rriv laypv rfjv i^fieripav €Kpdrr)aav,
o fiev oprvya Sov^, o Se irop^vpltov^, o S^ JCfV, 8 8^

ireptriKov opvof.

ACT I.

Of the goods with which they're blest mortals get from birds

the best.
Firsts of seasons, winter, spring, summer, we the tokens bring.
Men must sow, when shrieks the crane seeking Libya's coast

again; Tio

That's the time, each captain knows, to hang up the helm and

doze:
Then Orestes must not lack cloak well-woven for his back.
Lest with cold the robber freeze and another's garment seize.
Next the kite appears, and brings a new season on his wings,
When the flock you must release from its vernal load of

fleece.
Then the swallow comes to tell time is come the cloak to sell.
And, for wear while days are hot, buy the slender paletot. 7i5
We are Ammon's shrine to you, Delphi and Dodona too,
Phoebus' self : to birds you turn first, whatever you would

learn.
How to choose a mart, a trade, or a marriageable maid.
The decisive omens all, known in seercraft, birds you call;
Bird an oracle of fate, bird a sneeze you designate : 720

Sign that's seen or voice that's heard, lacquey, donkey, 'tis a

bird.

PARABASIS I. 32

irdvra Sk OvtjtoU ia-rlp cuj) rjfi(Sv r&v opvWoav ra

irp&ra fiev &pa<; ^alvofiev rjfiel^ ijpo^ )(€tfi<5vo<; oiroopa^.
aireipeiv fiev, irav yipavof; /cpd^ova €9 rfjp Aifivrjv

fieTa')(topy' 710

kclI 7rr)Bd\iov Tore vavicKriptp ^pa^ei tcpefida-avTi

KaOeuSeiv,
elra S' ^Opea-rrj 'yXaZvav v<]>alv€iv, Iva fifj piyiSu

diroSiirj.
IktIvo^ S' aS fierd ravra (f)av€l^ irepav &pav airo^alvei,
rjvlKa 'irefcrelv &pa irpoPdTCDV ttokov rjpLvoV elra

'6t6 'x^pfj j^Katvav TrcoXeiv r}8rj koI XrjSdptov re irpla-'

affai, 715

ia/jL€v S* v/MV "AfJLfioDVy AeX^o/, AcoSoSvi], ^oJ)8o9 'A-

ikdovre^ yap irp&rov eir opvi^ oJJto) Trph^ airavra

rpeireaBe^
irpo^ T ifJbTToplav, xal irpo^ fiiorov /CTfai,v, kclI irpd^

ydfjLov aWo9.
opviv re vo/il^€T€ Trdvff iaairep irepX fiavrela^ Scatcplvei'
i^VM'V y ^M'^v ipvi<i iarly irrap/iov r 6pvi0a KoKcLre, 720
^vfi^okov opvcp, ^(ov^p opviv, OepdirovT opvcv^ ovov

6ppcv.

5

ACT I.

We're Apollo then, 'tis clear; we're your only Pythian seer.
So then, if for gods you take us,
And your trusted muse-seers make us,
Gentle breezes we will send you;

Pleasant seasons shall attend you;

Moderate heat when summer's nearest,

Moderate cold when winter's drearest :

We'll not sulk, and sit beclouded

High in Jove-like grandeur shrouded;

But, in lower ether gliding,

Near your mansions still abiding,

We will give to all your nations.

Through their latest generations, 790

Life that's healthy, peace that's wealthy,

Youth-enhancing feast and dancing.

And, with laughter, bird's milk after.

All shall say, * 'Tis really cloying ' : 785

Such the bliss you'll be enjoying.

Muse of the woodland gladey {Ode)

TiOf tio, Ho, tiOf tio, tio, tiottXf

Harmonist^ whom tending oft

In glens or on the mountain tops aloft, 740

Tw, tio, tio, tiotix,

Perched in cm aeh-tree^a leafy shade,
Tio, tio, tio, tiotix,

Through my brown hill to Pom, I raise

Melodious strains of holy praise, 7i3

And to the mountain Mother solemn choral lays,
Totototototototototix,

PARABASIS I. 33

ap ov ^avepw i^fiec^ vfilv ia-fikv /juavrelo^ 'AttoX-

Xoov;
fjv ovv tjfid<; vofjLi<77)T€ Beov^y
ovK airohpavTe^
KaOeBovfieO^ avco aefjuvvvofievoc

oXXet irapovre^ Booaofiev vfuv

avTol^, iraiaiv, iraihcov Traiaiv, 730

TrXovOvyieiav, /3iov, elpi^vrjv,

veoTrjTa, ryeXora, X0/001/9, 6aXla<;

yaka r opviBcov. ware irapecrraL

KOiriav vfiiv viro rwv ar^aQSiv* 735

Moj}<7a \o')(jJLaiay a>iri

Tv6 TVO no TLO Tld TCO TtOTl^y

TroiKlXrjy fieff ^9 e^co

vairaLa-l re Kopv(f)alaiv r iv opeiai^;, 740

710 TCO T16 Tior/f,

l^6fi€vo<; fJL€\ia<; iirl (f)vWofc6fiov,

TCO TCO TC6 TCOTL^y

Sc ifi7)<i 7€i/uo9 ^ov6?}<; fieXimv

Uavl vofiov^ Upoif<; dva^aiv(o 745

aefivd T€ fiijTpl j(ppevfiaT opela,

TOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTOTC^,

ACT I.

Whence^ beelike, Phrynichua his soul did fill

With fruit of melodies ambrosial, still

Carolling lyrics at his ovm sweet will, 760

(Epirrhema)
Sirs, if any of your throng to the bird-club will belong,
We can offer him a home full of bliss for years to coma
What your laws entitle base, what you visit with disgrace, 7W
We the birds commend and deem worthy of our high esteem.
Here by law 'tis very bad if a youngster beats his dad :
There with us 'tis usual rather, even grand, to cuff a father,
Strutting up and crying, *Sir, if you'll fight me, lift your spur.'
Any of you that has been branded for a runaway, 7flo

As a speckled francolin may with us securely stay.
Any half-caste Spintharos, with a taint of Phrygian blood,
In our Birdland will be called Crossbill of Philemon's brood.
If, like Exekestides, some vile Karian slave comes out,
Pappies he can fledge with ease there, and wardsmen soon
will sprout. 7fl5

To the outlaws would some day Peisias' son the gates betray]
He, true nestling of his sire, partridge-rank can there acquire:
Sneaking out we reckon fair, partridge-fashion, from the snare.

So swans in olden tide, (Antode)

Tio, tio, tio, tio, tio, tie, tiotix, 77o

PAKABASIS I. 34

^pvvL'XP<i dfifipoaioDV fieKetov direPoaKero Kapirov del
^epoDv y\v/C€iav ^Sdv. 750

T16 no Ti6 TLOTL^,

el fi€T opvldcov Tt9 vjJb&Vj cS 0€aTal, fiovXerat
SiairXi/ceLv fcSj/ T^Seo)? to Xolttov, <o<; iQfJLd<s Xrco.
oaa yap iariv ivOdh^ ala'^pa rat vofitp Kparovfieva, 755
ravra irdvr ia-rlp irap r\pXv rolatv SpVLtriv /eaXd.
el ydp ivOdS* iarXv ala'x^pov top irarepa Tvirreiv vofi^,
TOVT ixei KoKov irap rijuv iariv, yp ta9 t& irarpl
'irpoa'SpafKOP ecirrj irard^a^;, alpe TrXfJKrpop, el j^ax^l*
el Sk Txjy^dpei rt? vfiSp BpaTrerrj^; earvyfiepo^, 760
drToyd^; oSto^ 'Trap* rjpftp ttoikIXo^ KeKKrjaeraL,
el 8e Tvy^dpec ri^ wp ^pif^ firjBep 'tjttop SirLpOdpov,
<l>pvyt\o^ opPL^ o5to9 earac, rod ^CKrjfiopo^ yepov<;.
el Se Sov\6<: e<m koX ¥idp &airep ^^^Kea-rlSij^,
^vadrto irdinrov^ irap rjfilPy Kol <f>apovPTac ^pa-

rep&i. 765

el K 6 TJecaiov irpoZovvai to?9 drifioc^ to? irvXa^
fiovXerai, iripSi^ yepiaOay, tov irarph^i peorriov
©9 Tra/o' i^fiip ovBep ala')(p6p earip eKTrepSixlaat,

TOldBe KVKPOl, dpT^Si]

no no nd no n6 no nori^, 770

ACT I.

Did thevt triUing pinions poise

And chant ApcUo wiih commingling noise,

TiOf tiOf tio, tiotix^
Perched on a knoll by Hehrus^ side.

Tie, tioy tio, tiotix, 775

Came th/rough the airy cloud a cry,
The dappled vrild-beasts crouching lie,
And sinks the hilhuyy sea beneath tlie windless sky,

Totototototototototix,
Olympus echoed to his utmx>st bovmd, 78o

Amaaemefnt seized the kings, amd far a/round
Each Grace amd Muse Olympia/n sweWd the sound,

Tio, tio, tio, tiotix,

{Antepi/rrhema) [785

Of all joys and blessings none beats the having feathers on.
One of you spectators may, wearing wings at any play,
Get at last a peckish feel, and desire a quiet meal :
Home he'll fly, just take a snack, then, with belly full, fly

back.
Isn't it then the best of things to posi^ess a pair of wings?
In Dieitrephes we And proof enough for any mind :
Osier wings were aU his claim, yet a captain he became
By his tribesmen duly voted, thence to higher grade promoted ;
Now he gives himself grand airs, once the roughest of the

roughs.
And the title that he bears, Colonel Horsecock of the Buffs.

END OF ACT I.

PARABASIS I. 35

cvfi/it/yn Porjv ofiov

irrepol^ Kpexovre^ laicypv 'AttoW®,

Tih no no norl^y

^X^^ ^(l>€^6fi€V0C Trap* ^^fipov irorafiov,

nb nd no nori^, 775

Bui B* aWipcop vi<l>o^ ffKOe jSod'

irrfj^e Sk ^vXA re iroiicCka Orjpoip,

Kv/Jbard T ea/Seae vrjvefio^ aWi^p,

totototototototototI^'

7ra9 S* iveKTvmitr oXv/jltto^' 780

etXe Bk 0d/jb^o^ ava/cra^' oXvfiindBe^ Bi fieXo^ "Kdpire^

"Movaal T iircoXoXv^av.
no no no norl^.

ovBev ioT Afieivov ovB^ ^Bcov 17 ^vtraL irrepa. 785
avrlj^ vfJiSp t£p Oear&p eX n<; rjp viroirrepo^,
elra iretp&p rol^i j^opourv t&p Tpvy<p8£p fix^^^*
etciTTopspo^ ap 0VT09 rjplxTTqaep ekOdtp otxaBe,
kAt ap ifivXfjo'Oel^ i<l>* i^fia<: avdt^ aZ Karhrrero:
ip viroirrepop yepiaOav irapro^ ianp a^cop;
©9 AuTp€(lyrj^ 76 irvnpala /lopop €J(G)p Trrepa
ypedf) ^vXap'Xp^, eW cmrap'xp^, elff ef ovBeph<i
fieyoKa Trpdrrei xdarl pvpI ^ov0o^ ImrdKe/erpvoip,

ACT 11.

Scene : in the Clouds. A haatUj/'Constructed altar stands in the
centre of the stage. Enter Feithetairos and Euelpides as
birds.

^^' ES^SS^ ^^^ ^^ good. No, never, on my word,

I never saw a creature more absurd.
Eu. What are you laughing at?

Pel Oh, don't you know?

Those pin-feathers of yours amuse me so.
Such metamorphosis your wings produce.
You're very like a cheaply-painted goose. ens

Eu. You've limn'd my likeness : yours is quite as droll,
A blackbird stript of feathers round the poll.

Pei. These likenesses we get — the poet sings —
Wrought of none other, but by our own wings.

Cho. What's the next business?

Pei. We are bound to frame,

First thing of all, a great and glorious name
For our new city. Sacrifice is due, sio

Next, to the powers divine.

Eu. I think so too.

Cho, What title for our city shall we choose?

ACT 11.

Scene : in the Clouds, A hastily-constructed altar stands in the
centre of the stage. Enter Peithetairos and Euelpides as
birds.

^^^* B^^^^H'^''^^ ToiavTl' /la AC iyco fiev 'irpay/xd ir(o

yeXoiorepov ovk elSov ovheTrmnroTe.
ET. €7rl TO) 7e\a9 ;
nEI. iirX Tolari aoL<i (OKvirTepoi^.

olaff ^ fioKiar €oi/ca<: iTTTepcofjuivo^ ;

eh eureKeiav X'ivX a\rff^pafifJLev(p. 805

ET. cri) Se Koyltl'xtp ye aKd<f>LOV diroTeTiKixevcp.
IIEI. ravrl fjukv yKaai^eada Kara top Ataj(y\ov'

rdS^ ovx vir dWoov dWd roi^i avr&v irrepol^.
XO. 076 hrj tI xP^ Spdv;
IIEI. irp&rov ovofia ty iroKei

deaOai ri fieya xal /cKecvov, elra to?9 0eoi^ 810

Ovaav fierd tovto,
ET. Tavra Kafiol avvSoKel.

XO. ^ep* iBo), ri S' i^fiiv rovvofi ecrav ry irokei\

ACT 11.

PeL That which the folk at Lakedaemon use,
That big one, Sparta^ would you give iti

JEu. Fie !

Take for my city Sparta 1 No, not I : sis

The meanest pallet never should receive
So poor a fitting, while I'd girths to give.

Pei. What must we call it then?

£u. From this new home.

These nebulous altitudes in which we roam,
Some vaunting title take to suit it pat.

Pei, Oloudcuckooborough, — ^what d'ye say to that)

Cho, Bravo ! bravo ! invention's quite your forte ;
A very noble name and — not too short. 8ao

JSu. A smartish city this ! But who shall dwell.
As guardian godhead, in the citadel?
For whom the broidered mantle?

Pei. Can't we still

Let Athenaea keep the sacred hill?

Eu, A wisely-ordered state can any be,
mere stands in highest shrine a deity

Female of sex, who, clad in armour, sees, sao

With shuttle in his hand, a Kleisthenes?

Pei, To guard the Storkwall whom shall we engage?

Cho. A bird of ours of Persian parentage,
Whose fear-awakening fame resounds afar.
The gallant chicken of the god of war. 835

Eu, O my lord Chicken! ay, 'tis chosen well;
No srod is fitter upon rocks to dwelL

EPEISODION II. 37

IIEI. fiovXetrde to /liya tovto rovte AaKehaifiovo^

Xiraprrjv ovofia KoX&fieif avn^v;
ET. 'UpaKXetr

'ZTrdfyrrjp yap av BeLpifiv eycS Trjii'^ nrokei) 815

ouS' av xafievvQ iravv j€ Keep lav y e^tov,,
IIEL t/ BrJT ovofi avry drjaSfieaff* ;
ET. ivrevdevl

iic T&v v€<f>e\Sv ical r&v fieredpoDv yjaypUov

'Xavvov TA irdvv,
IIEL /3ov\6V ii€(l>€\oKOK/evylav ;

XO. lod lov*

KaXov av y dT€)(yS^ koI fiey 7)vp€^ Tovvofjua. 820
ET. Xcirapdv to XP^f^^ ''^^ 7ro\eft)9. t/? Sal deb^

TToXtoS^o? laTac; t^ ^avovfiev t6v irhr\ov\
IIEI. Ti S* ovK 'Adrjvaiav ewfiev iroXcdSa;
ET. Koi TTcS? av en yevocT av evTaKTO^ 9ro\49,

OTToir 6eb^ yvvrj yeyovvla iravoirXiav 830

ea-TtjK Sj(pvaa, KXeurOivrj^ Bk KcpxlSa;
IIEI. 7/9 ' Bal KaOe^cL t^9 7r(JX6a)9 rd HeXapyiKov ;
XO. 0/91/A9 a^' i^fiSv Tov yevov^ tov irepa-CKov,

oairep Xiyerai SeivoTaTOf; elvac iravTaxov
*'Ap€a}<; V€0tt6^. 835

ET. <S V€OTTk Sia-woTa'

(»9 S* 6 0€d^ iircTijSeio^ otxelv iirl nrerp&v.

ACT II.

Pei. Now 70U start off, ascend the upper air,
And lend a hand to help the masons there:
Pass on the lime, to mix the mortar strip,
Carry the hod up, from the ladder slip; sio

Appoint the watch, the fire still hidden keep,
Bun round the beat with bell, there fall asleep.
Despatch one herald to the gods on high,
To men beneath another from the sky;
For me returning bid him ask. 845

Bu. I see;

You mean to rest here; rest and hang — for me.

Fei. Go on your mission, friend: without you none
Of all the things I mention will be done. [Bodt Euelpides.
Now must we hold a solemn sacrifice
In honour of the new-made deities;

And I will fetch a priest to range the show. 849

Ladsj lift the basket and the ewer. So. [Exit Feithetai/ros.

Cho. / say so too : I vote with you, Stroplie.

YeSf cmd add one cownsd d/us:

To the gods devout profession

Let us make in grand processio7i,

And, to win tliei/r favour , bring

A nice sheep as offering. 855

Utter forth, utter high

To the god a Fythia/n cry ;

And let Chairis to our lay

FlatUo obligato play.

EPEISODION II. 38

IIEI. &y€ wv ax) fiev jSdSi^e 7rpd<; rov dipa
KoX TouTt TeL')(i^ov(Tt, TrapaStaKovcc,
j(^dXLKa<i 7rapa(j>6p€i, TrrjXbv diroSv^ opyatrov,
XeKCLvqv dveveyxe, /cardirea dirb rrj^ /cklfjLaKO<;, 840
<f>vKaKa<i KardaTTjaai, to irvp eyfcpvirr del,
K(ohcovo(f>op&v ireplrpex'^ f^oX KaOevS^ e/cet*
KTjpvKe Be irifi^^ov tov fiev €9 Oeoi^ dvay,
erepov S' dvaOev ad irap dvOpunrov^ Karco,
KdKeldev av0c<i Trap ifii, 845

ET. a-d Si y avrov fiivav

oifito^e Trap €fi.

XIEI. W\ &ydff y ol irefiiro) a eyco,

oifhev yap dvev gov y wv Xiyay ireirpd^eTai,

[Eocit Euel^nd&8.
iyco S' Lva 6v<tco toIctl Kaivol(nv Oeohy
TOV Upea irefi'^^ovTa ttjv Trofnrrjv KaX&,
iral Trai, to xavovv atpeaOe /cal ttjv ^ipvc/Sa. 850

[JSocit Peithetairos.

XO. ofioppoOSf avvBeXcOy
avfiirapaivecra^ 1;^©

irpoaohia fieydXa aefivd irpoaUvai Oeoiaiv,
dfia he irpoaeTL jf^dpcTO^ evexa irpo^dTLov tc Ovetv, 855
Itco iT(o Se TTvOid^ l3od Bern,
(TwavXelTO) Be X.alpc^ €^Ba,

ACT IL

A Fluteplayer^ toearing the mask of a raven with a nunUhpieee,

enters and hegina to play.

Enter Feithetairos with a Priest.

PeL A truce there to your puffing ! Herakles !
What creature's this) Will marvels never cease?
Full many a wondrous sight I've seen, but none
To match a raven with a mouthpiece on.
Tour office now begins ; initiate, priest.
To the new gods our sacrificial feast

Pr. I'll do the solemn duty, since you ask it:
But where is he that bears the sacred basket?

Let us pray to Hestia birdqueen of flame*; and to holy Kite
that guards the same — 865

PeL Hail, Simium-worshipp'd Hawk ; hail, royal Stork.

Pr. and to the Pythian and Delian Swan; and to Lato,
Mother-quail, and Artemis the Goldfinch — 87o

Pei, Now no more Kolaenis, she Goldfinch Artemis will be.

Pr. and to the Bedstart Sabazian, and to the Sparrow,
mighty Mother of gods and men — 875

Pei. lady Kybele, be good to us, O Sparrow, Mother
of Kleokritus.

Pr. and to Olympian birds and lady-birds all, with united
prayer we call, that to Cloudcuckooburgesses they grant health
and wealth and all they want, themselves and their alliance,
especially the Chians —

Pei. That's delicious, I . declare : Chians tack'd on every-
where I 880

EPEISODION II. 39

A Fluteplayer, wea/ring the Tinaah of a raven wUh a mouth/piece,

ervtera and begins to play.

Enter Peithetairos with a Priest.
IXEI. iravaai <rv <l>v(roSv, ^UpaxXei^; tovtI ri fjv,

eirel fici A/' iyco iroWa S^ xal SetV ISo^v

ovirco Kopaic elBov ifnr€if>opfi€uaiJiAvov,

iepevy adv epyov, dve rah Kaivoh Oeoh.
IE. opaaao rdS*, dWa irov ^ariv 6 to Kavovv eyayv ;

evx^o-Oe Ty ^^aria r^ opvtdeitp koI t^ IktIv^ rm

€(rTiovxq> 866

IIEI. (S aovviipaKe %(up dva^ ireXapycKe.
IE. teal KVKvtp irvOlcp /cal SrjKup koX Atjtoc opTvyo-

firjTpa Kal ^AprifiiSc dKaXavOiSc, 870

IIEI. oifKeTL KoXaivU akTC d/ca\av0U *^ApT€fic^.
IE. Kal ^pvylXtp aa^a^Up Kal arpovdip fi^rfoky firjrpl

Oe&v Kal dv0p(O7rmv, 875

IIEI. Biairoiva Kv^cXtj, arpovOe, fiijrep KXeoKpi^ov.
IE. Kal Spviariv oXv/jL7rioi<: Kal oXvfiTriija'C irdat Kal ird-

fTyacVy StSovav ^e^eXoKOKKvyieva-tv vyUiav Kal a-w-

rrjpiav avToiac Kal "Kloiai,
IIEI. 'Kiouriv rja-6r}v iraina'xpv Trpoa-Kecfiipoi^, 880

ACT IL

Ft. and to each hero-bird and hero's son, and to pelican
and porphyrion ; and to heathcock and blackcock, and peacock ;
and to gannet, and heron, and grosbeak, and shrike, and
screechowl ; and to blackcap, and titmouse, and earljtnunpet-
fowl —
FeL A plague on all this nonsense ! cease to bawl.
Ho, ho ! what victim's this to which you call soo

Ospreys and vultures, dolt? a single kite,
lyje see, could swoop and cany off this mite,
dear out from us, and take your wreaths away :
111 make this sacrifice myself to day. \E^ Priest,

Cho. 80 now agavn a second stram ArUistrophe. 895

/ mvst raise and not refram.:

While they hea/r the sacred lotion,

I must set my songs in motion,

And to this ov/r solemn rite

All the hlessM gods invite :

NOf not all; otic alone.

If indeed therms meat for one. 900

In the victim standing by

Only beard and horns I spy.
Pel Jjest us pray and sacrifice to the f eather'd deities.

Enler Poet.

Po, Of Cloudcuckooborough's city
Celebrate the happy state,
O my Muse, in hymnM ditty. «»

Pei, What importation's thisi say who you are.

EPEISODION II. 40

IE. Kal fjpoxrvp opviac xal i^pcooov iraLcl, irop^vpUovi icaX
ireXe/cavTi Kal TreXe/cti/oo fcal (l>\i^i,Bc xal rirpaKi xal

KaX eKeq, koX jSaaKa xal iXaa^, xal iptpSi^ xal xarap^
pcucTjj 885

fcal fieXcuyxopii^tp koI alyiOaWtp koI i^piadXinyyif

IIEI. Trav" €9. /copa/ca^, iravaai, Ka\£v» M iov^

iirl iroloVy <S KaKoSaifiov, iepelov kcCKu^ 890

oKmeTOV^ koX yxhra^) ov^ opa^ Zrt

Iktivo^ eh civ tovto 7' ot'xpcff apiraa'a^ ;

airekff cuf>* ijfioiv xal ad koI rci (rTefifiara'

iyto ycLp avro^ rovroyl OvdoD fiovo^. [Exit Priest.

XO. elr av0t^ aS rapa aov 895

hel fie Sevrepop fieXo^

'XepvL^L deoaefih itriov iirifioaVy xaXetp Bk
fidxapa^, Spa ripd fjuopop, etirep iKapdp S^er oy^op. 900
Tci yap irapopra Ovfiar ovSkp a\\o irX'^p
yip€c6p T icrrl Kal xipara,

iITEL 0voPT€^ ev^dfieaOa T049 irreplpoL^ Oeol^.

Enter Poet.

no. He^eXoKOKKvyiap rcip evSaifiopa

KX^trop, & Mofio-a, reah ip Sfipcop doiSal^. 905

IIEI. tovtI to TTpayfJua iroBaTrop^ elire fjuoi rk el;

6

ACT II.

Po, One who honey-voio^d song produces,
A holy menial of the Muses:
Such is the title Homer uses. oio

Pei. A slave are you, yet keep your flowing hair?

Po. No; but every one that song produces
Is a holy menial of liie Muses ;
Such is the title Homer uses.

Pei Your blouse too's holy ; to your trade you owe it : 915
But what the mischief brings you here, Sir poet 1

Fo, Fine odes IVe made and many, tp renown
In song Cloudcuckooborough, your new town,
Some Cyclian, others Farthenean,
Others in style Simonidean.

JPei. When did you set about this song-inditing? 020

Po* Long on this city, long have I been writing.

PeL What? haven't I held its name-feast now, you gaby,
And called it for the first time, like a baby?

Po, By the Muses tidings swift are carried;
Swifter than the glancing force
Of the lightning-footed horse

Game the news, and never tarried. ess

But, O sacred-titled lord,
Founder and sire of Aetna's state,
What thy bounty can afford.
Be it little, be it great.
With a generous soul incline
To bestow on mine from thine. 080

PeL This plaguy wretch will worry us, I see,

EPEISODION II. 41

no. iyco fieXtyKdaacov ciricov leh doiSav

'Movada)V Oepdircov 0Tprjp6<i,

scard rov ^Ofirjpov, 910

IIEI. eirena Srjra BovXo^ &v KOfji/rjv e^ee? ;
no. ovK dXKa irdvTe^ ea-jjbhf oi ZiZdaKcCKot

TAovadtov Oepdirovre^ orprjpoi,

Kara rov ^^Op/qpov,
nEI. OVK irh^ oTprjpiv koX to XrjSdptov ?;^6*9. 915

drdpy c! TToiiyra, Kara rl Sevp* dv€<f)0dp7f^ ;
no. fiikrj ireirolr^K €9 rds; ^e^eXpfCOKKuyia^

Ta9 vp,€Tepas K^KKid re iroXkd koX KoXd

KaX irapdeveia koI Kard rd ^cfieovlSov.
nEI. ravrl av iror i7rocrj(ra<; \ dirb iroaov xpovov; 920
no, TrdXat iraKai Bfj rrjvK ejto xX/p^o) Troktv.
nEI. OVK dpTC Ova) TTJv Bexdrrfv Tairrq^ ey©,

KaX Tovvofi Sxnrep iraiSitp vvv hrj ^Bip^rjv;
no. dWd Ti<; dKela ^ovadoDv <f>dTi^

oldtrep iTTTTODV dp.apvyd, 925

ad Se irdrep KrUrrop AXrva^,

^aOecDV lep&v 6fjL(opvp,€^

009 €fitp Ti irep

Tea K€<f)a\a Oekr}^

irpo^pcDv B6fjb€V ipXv Tetv, 930

llEI. tovtI Trapi^ec t6 KaKov rjpftv irpdyfiaTa,

6—2

ACT II.

If we don't shut his mouth up with a fee.

You've got a jerkin there, come, strip, bestow it

Upon my very learned friend the poet. [To one of tJie slaves.

There, poet, take this jerkin for your meed;

Your shivering plainly shews it what you need. 935

Fo. Glad the friendly Muse receiveth
What the gracious donor giveth;
Yet expand your mental ear,
And a verse of Pindar hear.

Fei. We shan't get quit of him just yet, 'tis clear. wo

Fo. In the nomad Skythian's plain
Wanders ever, cold and lonely,
Straton with a jerkin only;
Jerkin only, 'tis notorious.
Without tunic is inglorious.
Duly comprehend the strain. W5

Fei, You . want the tunic : that I comprehend.
Come, strip : one must assist a poet friend, [To the alfive.

There, take it and be off.

Fo. I go: yet stay,

The city must receive this parting lay.
Seated on thy golden throne.
Muse, prepare a noble ditty

For the quivering, shivering city. O60

To the snow-propelling zone.
The many-path'd, I hied awa',
Tralalala I

Fei. But now the tunic's on your back, my friend,
Of quivering and of shivering there's an end. [Exit Foet, 965

EPEISODION II. 42

el fiTj rl 7* avT& iovre; a'n'0(f)€V^ovjj^da,
ovTO^, a^ fievToi, <nr6\aZa kclI '^^yr&v I;^et9,

aTToBvOi KOl S^9 TjS TTOirjTy T^ <T0^^,

\To one of the slaves,

S^e TTJv a-TToXaBa* irdvTa)<: Be fioc piy&v So/ceJ?. 935
no. ToBe fikp ovK deKOva-a ^tXxi

"iAovaa roBe B&pov B€)(€Tai'

Ttf Bk req, ^pevl fjudOe ircvBdpecov ^iro^.
IIEL &v6p(OTro^ 7]fi£p ovk d7raXXxij(^6t]a'€TaL 940

no. vofJbdBea&c yap ip XKv0ai<:

dXaTac ^rparoDPy

89 v^apToBoparop earffo^: ov irenrarai"

aKXerj^ S' eySa airoXas; dpev j^atcSz/o?,

fi;z/€9 i Tov Xeyo). 945

nEI. ^vprjx Sti ^ovXei rdp j^croDptaKOP Xa^elp*

diroBvOc* Bei yap top TroirjT'^p (i<l>€\elp, [To the slave,

airekOe tovtopI Xa^dp.
no. diripxofiat,

Ka^ Ttjp iroXip y iX$a)p iroitja'a) toulBC'

xX'paop, (3 'xpva60pop€, rap rpofiepdp Kpvepdp, 950

piipo^oXa ireBla iroXviropd r i]Xvdop' dXaXaL
nEI. pfj rdp Ar dXX^ rjBr) ir€<f>€vya^ ravrar/l

rd Kpvepd topBI top 'X^LToyviaricop Xa^dp. 955

[Eosit Poet.

ACT 11.

I can't conceive how to this rascal went

Such early notice of our settlement.

Boy, carry round again the laver. So.

Silence !

Ent&r a Soothsayer.

Soo, Commence not on the goat.

Pet. Hilloa !

What's here? ««)

Soo, A soothsayer.

Pel. Bad luck be thine !

Soo. Cast not contempt, great Sir, on things divine :
Here is an oracle of Bakis : see :
It fits Cloudcuckooborough perfectly.

Pel, Then, ere I coloniz'd this city, why
Came you not here, and sang your prophecy? 965

Soo, The spirit hindered then.

Pei, Well, well 1 rehearse :

There's no great harm in listening to your verse.

Soo. *But when the wolves and hoary crows unite
To build 'twixt Sikyon and great Korinth's height'-:—

Pel. And with Korinthians what concern have II

Soo. This hint of Bakis indicates the sky. 87o

*Bid first in honour of Pandora bleed
A white-fleec'd ram: and then, as fitting meed
For the first prophet who my songs shall bear,
A goodly coat and sandals new prepare.'

EPEISODION II. 43

tovtI fid AC iyd rd KaKov ovheiror ffkina-a,
o{Jt<» Ta;^€a)9 tovtov irenvaOat rrjv iroXiv.

€v<f)rjiiia Vtq>.

Enter a Soothsayer.
XPH. firj Kardp^u rod rpayov,

IIEL <rv 8* el ta9 ; 960

XPH, ia-Ti^; j(prj(rfio\6yo^,

IIEI. otfjuo^e vvv,

XPH. c3 SaifiopLCf rd Ocla firj <^at;Xa)9 <^€p6'

CU9 €<rTi Ba#ceSo9 XPV^f^^ dvriKpv^ \iyav
€9 rd^ T^€(f>e\oKOKKvyla^.
HEI. Kaireira ttw

Tovr ovK i'Xprfa-fioKoyei^ av irplv ijie ttjv ttoKlv
rrfv^ oltciaai ; 965

XPH. TO Belov iveiroBc^e fie,

HEX. aSX ovhkv otSv ear oKovaai t£v iir&v,
XPH. aXX' irav olKriatoai \vkol iroKuil re KOp&vai,
iv ravrm to fiera^if KoplpOov xal XiKv£vo^,
HEX. rl oiv irpoarjKeL hrjr ifiol KopivOloDv;
XPH. 'Qvl^aff 6 Ba/ct9 tovto .7r/}09 top depa, 970

irp&Tov HavBdpa dvaai XevKorpi'^a Kpiov*
09 Be K ifiwv eiretov Skdrj irpdriara 7rpo<j>i]Ti]<;,
T^ Bofiev Ifidriov KaOapov KaX Katvd weBCKa,

ACT II.

Pel, They're in it too, the sandals ?

Soo, * Take the book.

And, furthermore, the prophecy commands
'To give a cup, and fill with tripe his hands/ 07o

Pel. And giving tripe is in it?

Soo. Take the book.

*And if thou doest my bidding, reverend Childe,
An eagle in the clouds shalt thou be styled :
But if thou giv^st not, never shalt thou prove
Throstle or woodpecker or turtledove.*

Pei, And is all this included? gso

Soo, Take the book.

Pei, Your oracle is not like this of mine.
Which I got copied from Apollo's shrine.
'But when some swindler, uninvited there.
Disturbs the sacrifice, and tripe would share,
Let well-belaboured ribs be all his fare.' ws

Soo, I think you're talking nonsense.

Pei. Take the book.

'Nor spare e'en eagle in the clouds, though he
Or Lampon or great Diopeithes be.'
Out, vermin, out ! [Beats him, 900

Soo, Alack and welladay !

Pei. Get out, and soothsay somewhere else : away !

[Exit Soothsayer.

EPEISODION II. 44

IIEI. €V€(TTi Koi ra iriBiKa;

XPH. Xa^^ t6 Pvpkiov.

KaX ^caXrjv hovvaCy ttal (rirXdyxPo^v X^v' ^^*'
irkfjaat, 975

IIEI. Koi fTifKar^yya Bovu iveari ;

XPH. XayS^ TO fiifiXlov.

tcav fiev, decnrie /covp€f iroiy^ ravff cS? eTT^reWft),
alerd^i iv ve^eKrjo-i, y€V7]a-€ai,' al Be K€ firj Sft>9,
ovK eaec ov rpvycov, ov \dlo<$, ov BpvKoXairrriQ,

IIEL KaX ravT evea-r ivravOa] 980

XPH. \a^e t6 l3ifi\lov.

HEI. ovBev dp* o/moco^ iaO* 6 XPV^/^^^ rovTtjpi,
ov iydo irapd .rdnroXKtavo^ i^€ypayfrdfi7)p'
avrdp iirrjv aKKrjro^ idov av0ptO7ro<i oKa^^wv
Xwrp Oiovra^ koX .(Ttrkay)(yevei>v iTridvfiyy
Si] Tore j(prj rvTrreip avrov irXevpoov rd fiera^v, 985

XPH. ovBev Xiyeiv otjjuii <re>

HEI. \a^k TO fii^Xiov.

KaX ^elBov fir}Bhf jJ/qB* aUrov iv i/e^eXiyo-^i/,
fiTjT fjv AdfiTTCov y fiTjT fjv 6 fiiya^; A^OTre/d^?.
ovK €t 6vpa^\ 69 Kopaxa^. [Beats him, 990

XPH. otfioc BeiXat^o^,

HEI. ovKOVv irepoDae XPV^H'^^yW^''^ iKTpij(a)v;

[Exit Soothsayer,

ACT 11.

ErUer Mbton.

Me. Vm come to join you —

PeL Here's another pest.

What are you come fori what's the ideal thought,
What the design, the boot, of this your journey 1

Me, I want to measure geometrically oes

Your atmosphere, and map it out in acres.

Pei. And in heaven's name, who are you?

Me. Meton I,

To Hellas and Kolonos known.

Pei. And these,

What are they?

Me. Rules for measuring the atmosphere.

For instance, all the atmosphere in shape looo

Is like a stove, as near as can be: so
When I my lineal fix, and from above
Insert a pair of flexile compasses —
You comprehend?

PeL I do not comprehend.

Me. A straight rule I apply to measure with,
That so your circle may become quadrangular, loos

With market-place i' the middle, whither lead
Straight roads converging to the very centre :
And thus, as from a star, being circular,

EPEISODION II. 45

Enter Meton.
ME. ' rjKfo Trap Vfia^
IIEI. irepop ad tovtI /caxSv,

ri S' av (TV Spda&v; rk ISia fiovXevfuiTO^ ;

Tt9 ^ *7rivoia, rk o /c60opvo<; rfj^ 6 Sod;
ME. y€a)fi€rprJ0-ai, fiovXofiai top dipa 995

vfuv BieXetv re kotcL yva^.
IIEI. irpd^ T&v de&v

<n) 8' el rk dpSpdSp;
ME. 2(7x^9 etfju; iyd^ Mercop,

Zp olSep ^EK\d<$ ^(u JS.o\€op6^.

IIEI. 647r€ flOLy

ravrl Si aoc ri €<m;
ME. Kap6p€<: dipo^,

avrlfca yap drjp iarc rfjp ISiap oXo^ 1000

/card TTPiyia fidTuara, irpoa-delt; ovp iyw
TOP KapoPy dpoD 8k TOVTOpl rhp KapnrvKop
ipOel^ BiafirJT7)P — fiap0dp€i^;

IIEI. OV /MlP0dpG},

ME. 6p0^ fiCTpijaa) xapopi, irpoaTiOek, ipa

6 kvkXo^ yipT/Tal aoc rerpdycopo^, Kdp fiia^ 1005
dyopdf ^ipovaat 5* coacp eh avrrjp oSol
opdal 7r/}09 OiUTO to fiiaop, wairep S' daripo^
avTov KVKXorepov^ opto^ opdal irapraxfj

ACT II.

Straight rays may flasli their light ia all directions.

Fei. The man's a second Thales. Meton — loio

Me. Well ?

FeL I*m your good friend, believe me; take my counsel.

And move, without disturbance, out o' the way.

Me. What danger is there?

Fei. As in Lakedaemon,

Aliens are banish'd, feelings are excited,
And many stripes are stirring through the city.

Me. Is discoixl raging here?

Fei. No, not at all. lois

Me. What is the matter then?

FeL In perfect concord

We are resolved to kick out every humbug.

Me. I must be gone then.

Fei. Yes : I'm not quite siire

You've time: here are the stripes, impending now.

[Beats him.

Me. Me miserable!

Fei. Didn't I give you warning?

Kemeasure yourself and be ojff elsewhere. [Bosit Meton. 1020,

Unter an Inspector*
Ins. Where are the consuls?

EPEISODION 11. 46

dxTLve^ diroKdfjLirfoa'iv,
IIEL avOpfOTTO^ 0aXi79.

Mircoi/ 10 10

ME. rl lariv;

IIEI. taff OTifj <f>iXoi a ey®,

KcifioX 'TTiBofievo^ viraTTOKiveL t^9 oiov.
ME. tL 8' iarl Beivov;
IIEI. &<nrep iv AaKeBal/Movt

^evrfKareiTav koI KCKivrjinai <f>pip€<$'

TrXffyal av^al scar currv,
ME. fi(Sv araaui^ere'y

IIEL fMct Tov AC ov BfJT. 1015

ME. dXkd TTcS?;

IIEI. ofioOvfiaZhv

airohetv cmavra^ roi)^ oKa^ova^ Bok€i,
ME. vTTorfoi^fil rap* av.
IIEI. vrj AC C09 ovK o!8' ap* el

^Oalrj^ dv' irrlKeimac yap 6771)9 avraiL [Beats him.
ME. ot/jLoi KaKoBaifjuov,
IIEL OVK SXeyov iy<o irdKai;

OVK dvafierpijaei^ aavrov diruov aXKaxyy 1020

[Sxit Meton.
Enter an Inspector.
Em. TTov irpo^evoi',

ACT II.

Fei, Who's this dainty doni

Ins. I'm an inspector by the bean elected
To this Oloudcuckooborough.

Fei, An inspector?

Who sent you herel

Ins. A certain trumpery warrant

Of Teleas. loes

Fei. Will you take your salary then,
Not bore us, but be gone?

Ins. With all my heart.

I wish'd to stay at home and sit in parliament :
Some foreign business I have done with Phamakes.

Fei. Take it and go then. That's your salary. [Beats him,
Ins. What's this? loao

Fei. A sitting of the house on Phamakes.

Ins. I call you all to witness I am beaten,

I, an inspector.

FeL Shoo ! shoo I won't you scud,

And take your brace of ballot-boxes with you 1 [Eacit Inspector,

Now is not this a scandal? To our city

Already they are sending out inspectors

Before our sacrifices are performed.

Unter a Plebiscite-vendor.
Fie. * If any Cloudcuckooburgess wrong an Athenian — ' 1035

EPEISODION II. 47

TIE I. rk 6 XapBavaTraWo^ ovTO<rl;

EIIL iirUrKoiro^ ^kod Bevpo t& Kvdfitp Xa^^v

€9 ras ii€<j>€\oKOKKvyia^,
IIEI. iirla-KOTTO^ ;

hreii'>^e 8e rk ae Bevpo ;
EIII. ^avKov ^ipklov

TeXeoi; rv. 1025

IIEI. /3ov\€i S^Ta TOP fivaObv Xafidv

fjbrj irpdryfiaT S'^eiv aW* aTrUpac',

EIII. V7J TOV^ 0€OVi.

iKK\r}a'id<rac yovv iSeofJirjv oIkol fiivcov,
ioTLv yap a Si ifiov TreirpaKrai ^^apvaxij,
IIEI. aTTcOt Xa^coV earip 8' 6 fiurdh^ ovroaL

[Beats him.
Em. tovtX ri rjv\ 1030

IIEI. * iKK\f}(TLa irepl ^appaxov,

EIII. /jLapTvpofAai TV7rT6/i€PO<$ OOP iiria-Koiro^,
IIEI. ovic aTToao^ijaet^ ; ovk dirolaet,^ t(o tcdSo);

[Exit Inspector,
ov Seipdi KoX TrifiTrovaiP 17817 ^irtaKoirov^
€9 TTjp iroXipf irplp KaX reOiiaOai toU 0€oh;

Enter a Plebiscite-vendor.
"^H, iap S' iJ€<]>€\oKOfCKi/yiev^ rdp ^AOrjpalop dSi/c^ 1035

ACT II.

FeL What plague again is here 1 what manuscript 7

Pie, Vendor of plebiscites am I;, new laws
I'm come amongst you here to selL

FeL Sell what I

Fie. * For Cloudcuckooburgesses we decree that all the
measures and weights shall be the same as those of Poland.' loio

Fei, Yours soon shall be the same as those of Woland.

[Beats him.

Fie, Sir, what do you meant

Fei, Go, take away your laws,

m sharpen them for you to-day, those laws. 1045

\_Exit Flebiscite-vendor,

Ins, [/ram the eide^ I summon Peithetairos for assault^
to appear at the April sessions without default.

FeL Oh, really, you*re amongst us, are you, stilll

Fie. [from the side"], ' If any shall drive out the magistrates,
and not receive them, as the column states — * 1050

FeL O cruel fate ! and you're amongst us still ]

Ina, [from the 8ide\, I'll ruin you in damages, I will.
I'll lay them at ten thousand drachmas. Sir.

FeL I'll scatter to the winds your ballot-boxes.

Ina, [from the eide^. Your insult to the column once at even,
Remember that.

FeL Faugh, faugh ! let some one seize him.

t

Oh, you won't tarry, won't you?-r-From this place 1055

Let us as soon as possible go in

And sacrifice unto the gods the goat. [Exeunt all but Chorus.

EPEISODION II. 48

UEI. tojjtI tL iarhv av kukov; tI to ^tffXiov;
"^H. yp^(f>t<TfiaT07rci\i]^ el/il Kal vofiov^ viov^

f)K<o iriLp VfJLoi^ Sevpo ir(o\ria(ov,
HEI. TO rl\

"^H. ')(pfja0aL N€<f>€\oKOKKvyi,d^ rot^ avrot^ fiirpoiai, Kal 1040

aTa6fi*oi<ri, Koi vofila-fiaa-i Kadairep 'OXo<^v^tot.
n£I. a\> Si y olo'irep wrorv^iot XPV^^^ T^xa. [B^cUs him.

IIEI. ov/c airoLo'ei^ rov^ pofiov^;

iriKpoi^ iyd aoi rijfiepov hel^cD v6fiov^. 1045

l^Exit Flebi8cU&-vendor,

EUL KuT^vfiac TJeiOiracpop vfipew^ i^ top iiovpvxi'&va,

[From the aide.

IIEI. SKriOe^y oSto^ ; Sti, ydp ipTavff" rjaOa aii ;

SP^H. idv Se Tt9 i^eXavvp 701)9 ap')(OPTa^ koX fir) Be^VTat 1050

tcara ttjp o-TiJXiyj/, [From the side,

IIEI. otfioi KafcoSalfKOPy xal av yap ipTavff fjaff* 8ti;

EIII. aTToXcS <7€ Kal yp(v^(o ae fivpla^ hpa'Vfia^,

\From, the side.

IIEI. €70^ ik aov y€ tc^ KciSa) BtacKeSco,

EIII. pAfipr^a St€ TTJ^ &TrjXri^ KaTertXa^ iawipa^;

[From the side,

IIEI. ai^oV \al3iT(o T19 avTOP, o5to9, ov fiepei^; 1055

diri(o/i€P rjfieh q59 to%40"t' ipT€v0€pl

0vaopT€^ etaa) toU deolai top Tpdryop,

[Eoceunt aU hut Chorua,

7

ACT II.

(Ode)
Oho. Through the coming ages now

With the sacrifice and vow

Mortals shaU to me be praying,

Me the allseeing a/nd allstoaying, loeo

Me whose active sight extends

To the ea/rth*s extremest ends.

I preserve the blooming fruity

Slaying every noxious brute:

Sv>ch as with rapacious ja/vo

Under ground the rootlets gnaw ; loes

Sv^h asy lu/rking in the boughs,

On the budding fruitage browze ;

I destroy the loathsome swarm

That unth fotd pollution harm

All the ga/rderCs fragramit cha/rm :

Biting creatures, creatures crawling^

Bleed beneath my pinions sprawling. 1070

(JEpirrhefna)
Specially, however, it is notified to-day,
Melian Diagoras if any of you slay,
Your reward's a talent; and a talent for the head
Shall be paid of any of the tyrants that are dead. 107&

Also we do thus declare our high and mighty will : —
Sparrower Philokrates if any of you kill.
You will get a talent; if alive he's taken, four;
For he strings and sells the finches at a groat a score,
Blows the fieldfares out and shews 'em with insulting grin, loeo
To the nozzles of the blackbirds sticks the feathers in ;

PARABASIS II. 49

XO. ijSrj ^fiol T^ iravT&rrra ©Si}

Kol Travrdp'x^a 0V7fTol iravre^

Bvaovcr evKTaiai^ ev'Xjou^, 1060

ira/rav fiev ydp yap oTrreva),
ad^o) 8' evOoKel^ fcapirov^
KTeivcov 7rafi(l>v\a)v yevvav
0f)p<Sv, %a iravT iv yaia

ix KoKvKo^ av^avofievov yh/vai irap,^dyov^ 1065

SivSpeai r i(f>€^6fieva Kapirov dirofioaKerai'
KTelvca 8' ot icrjirov^ euooSei^
^OelpovaLV Xvfiai^ ij^dio'Tac^,
kpTrerd re koX Edxera irdvff oaairep
ear IV vir* ifia^ irrepvyo^ iv ^ovat^ oWvrai, 1070

[iirlpprjfia
ryhe fjuh/TOC drjfiepa fioKvaT iTravcuyopeverac,
fjv diroKTclvy TA9 vfMoov Acfvyopav rdv Mi^XioVy
XafMJSdveifV rdXavTov, rjv re r&v rvpdvvayv rk riva
Ti3v TeOvrjKOTtov diroKTeivri, rdXavrov Xafifidveiv, 1075
/SovkSfMeaOd vw dveiTretv ravrd x^y/Aet? ivOaSi'
rjv diroKTelvQ re? vfimv ^iXoKpdri] rhv ^TpovOtov,
Xi^eraL rdXavrov, fjv Sk ^dv ta9 drydyrj, rerrapa,
Srt avvelpcov T0i)9 (tttIvov^ TrcoXel Kaff hrrd rov/SoXov,
elra <I)V<t<Sv rd^ Kij(Xa>^ SeUvva-t xal Xvfiaiverai, 1080
Tot9 T€ KO'^i)(pi,aiv €9 rd^ plva^ ^X^^ '^^ irrepdy

7—2

ACT IL

Piseons tHat he catches in his cashes all are set,

^d must be decoy-birds for him fastened in i net

Thus do we proclaim. And if by any of you men

Birds are kept in aviaries, let them loose again. loss

Our police shall seize you, if this warning you defy,

And in penal servitude decoying men you'll lie.

(Antode)
Ho/ppy a/re the feathered folk,

Who in winter wea/r no doak; looo

Arid the summer does not hwm ua
With its hot fa/r-flashing fv/mace :
BtU in flowery meads I dweU,
Lingering oft in leafy dell,

When the inspired dcala^s gladness, 1006

Swelling into sv/nny madness,
FiUelfh aU the fervid noon
With its shrill a/nd ceaseless Pu/ne,
3ui; throiighout the wintry day
In some hollow cave I stay
With the mxiuntain nym/phs aJb pla/y»
Myrtle-berries, spring-hedeu^d.
White and tender, a/re my food.
And a thousand delica>cies
From the gardens of the Graces. 1100

(Antepirrhema)

On the victory I wish a word or two to say.
How the judges all will gain by voting for our play,
Getting better gifts than those of Paris far away. uo4

First — for more than anything each judge has this at heart —

PARABASIS II. 60

KaTravarfKci^et ircCKeieLV SeSe/ieva^ iv Sc/crvtp.
Tavra fiovkofiea-B* avetiretv' xet ri^ ipvi0a<; rpi^ei
eSpyfUvovf; Vfi&v iv av\^, <l>pd^ofi€v fieOUvai, 1085
tjv Be fifj iriOyade, avKXri^dhne^ viro r&v 6pve<ov
avOi^ vfiec^ av trap fipHv SeSe/jLevoi TraXeva-ere.
evSaifiov <f>v\ov irrqv&v dvrtpSi]

oioDVoSVj ot ')(€LflWVO^ fiev

j^Kalva^ ovK dfiina'xyovvTaL' 1090

otJS' ai OepiMTj TTvlyov^ rjfid^
clktI^ TfjXatjyTj^ Bakirei,'
aK)C dvdrip&v XeifidvcDV
ff>vWa)v KoKiroL^ ivvaUo,

rjvl/i av 6 0€(nr4(rio^ o^v fii\o<; d^ira^ 1095

OdXireci fiea-TjfJLlSpivoif: rjXiOfiavri^ ffoaJ
j(€ijJLd^o) S^ iv KoiKoK avrpov^
vvfi^ai^ ovpeiai^ ^vp,iraL^(ov*
rjpufd re ^oaK6fi€0a irapOivia

Xev/coTpo^a fivpra Hapircov re serprei/JUiTa. iioo

[dvreirlpprjfia
T0i9 Kpyrak ehrelv ri fiov\6/i€<r0a t^9 vi/crf^ iript,
ia dr/dff'f fjv Kplvtoaiv '^fia^, irdaiv avroU SdaofMcv,
&aTe Kpelrrto Z&pa ttoXX^ t&v ^AXe^dvSpov Xafieiv.
irpwra fjbkv ydp ov /idXiara 7rd<; Kpirij^ i^iercu, 1T05

ACT II.

Never shall the Lauriotic owls from you depart,
But shall in your houses dwell, and in your purses too
Nestle close, and hatch a brood of little coins for you.
Furthermore we'll bid you live in temples like the gods,
Eagle-fashion'd pinnacles adorning your abodes. iiio

If, in some poor office placed, to pilfering you incline,
We will lend a small sharp hawk to favour your design;
Craws too we will send you when you're going out to dine.
But if you reject us, then let each a little shed
Forge, like lunes o'er statues, as a shelter for his head; 1116
Lest, without it when you walk in clean and white attire.
All the birds their vengeance take by covering you with mire.

Enter Peithetairos.
Pei, Our sacrifices. Birds, are favourable:
But from the works no messenger arrives
To tell us how the business there goes on. 1120

Nay, here comes one at last, and running too
And panting in the true Alphean style.

Enter First Messenger.
Fi/rst M, Where, where is — ^where, where, where is — ^where
is he,
The archon Peithetairos?

Pel. He is here.

First M. Your wall is finished.

EPEISODION III. 51

y\avtc€^ vfia<i ovttot er^cKetyftova'c Xavptcorixal'
dW* ivovKijaovciv SpSoVj & re to?9 /SaWaprloi^
ipveorreva'ova'i icaickk^ov<ri fiiKpa Kep/jbara,
elra irp6^ rovrouriv &<nrep iv iepol^ ol/crjaere'
Ta9 ydp vfimv oixla^ ipi^Jrofiev 7r/oo9 aerov' mo

Kav 7<xi')(ome^ ap'^licov elff apirda-aL fiovXTjcOe ti,
o^v UpaKUrKov €9 to/; xeJpa? vfilv Sda-ofiev,
fjv Si TTOV Secrrvfjre, irprfyopwva^ vfitv irifiylrofiep.
fjv Bk fiTj Kplvi]T€y )(a\/c€V€aff€ /i7)vla'Kov<: <f>opelv
&(r7r€p dv8pidvT€^' co? vfidov 09 dv p/fj p,rjv* ^XV* '^'5
irav ijfffire j^KavlSa XevKi^v, rore p,dXv<rff oiro) Slxrfv
Sdceff* rjpZv, irdcri toi<; opvuri KararcXoofMevoc,

UrUer Peithetaibos.

IIEI. rd fikv Up rjpZv ioTCv, oSppiOe^, KoKd'

a\X' ov/c dird rov Tel^ov^ irdpeariv 0775X09

ovSeh Ztov irevaop^eOa rdKel irpdypura. iiao

oXX' ovToal rp^x^^ ''"*? 'AX^e^oi/ irvitov.

BrUer First Messenger.

AP. A TToO irov ^arrif ttov irov irov Vta, irov irov irov ^art ttov

wov HecOeraipof: iariv ipytov]
IIEI, ovToaL

AP. A i^tpKoSSfiTfral aoi to T6Jj^09.

ACT IL

Pei, Thanks for jour good tidings.

First M, A yerj noble and magnificent struotare. iias

So vast the breadth is, that upon the top
Proxenides of Bragham and Theogenes
Gould drive two passing chariots dear, with steeds
Big as the wooden one of old.

Pei. Great Herakles!

First M. The height (I measured it myself) is just iiao
A hundred fathoms.

Pei What a height, Poseidon!

Who built it up to such enormous size)

First M. Birds and none else: no bricklayer of Aegypt,
No stonehewer was there, no carpenter :

With their own hands they did it, to my marvel iiss

There came from Libya thirty thousand cranes,
All having swallowed down foundation stones,
Which with their beaks the rails stiU aptly shaped:
Another party of ten thousand storks
Were brickmakers: and water from below
The plovers and the other wading birds
Were raising up into the higher air. ii4o

Pei. And who conveyed the mortar for them)

First M. Herons,

In hods.

Pei. And how did they get in the mortar)

EPEISODION III. 62

IIEI. €v TJyei^.

Ar.A KaXXioTOv epyov koI fieyaXryirpeTriaTarov' ii«5

&aT &v hrav(o fikv Tlpo^evlSr}^ 6 Kofiircta-eO^
teal 0607^1^9 ivavrUo Sv ipfiare,
twTTtov virSvrtov fiiyeOo^ iaov 6 Sovpio^,
iirh Tov irXdrov^ av frapeKcurairriv.

IIEI. "UpaKkeb^.

Ar.A t6 Sk fi^ico^ ioTi, /cat yctp ifiirpija aiir iyoiy 1130
i/caTQVTopoyvcop,

IIEI. (2 Tl6<T€i,Sov, TOV fidicpov^.

rlve^ ^tcoBofiTja-ap avro rrjkitcovTovl'y

AF. A ipvtOe^, ovBeh oKXo^, ovtc alrfvimo^

irKivOo^po^^ ov \i0ovpy6^, ov Tixrav '/rapvjv,

dKK' avT6j(€ip€^f &aT€ OavpA^eiv i/i^i, 1135

iK fUv ye At/3iiri^ fJKov m rpia-fivpuii

yipavoi OefieXlov^ KaTaireiroDKviai \l0pv^.

TOtiTov^ S* irvKC^ov al Kpixe^ T0Z9 pdfi<f>e<Tiv,

irepoL S* hrXiiifdo'upyow ireXapyol fiiipioi'

iStop B* i^povv KartoOev i^ tov aipa 1140

0/ X'^^P^^P^^^ ^^^ rJEWa iroTafiC opvea.

IIEI. i7rf)Xo<f>6povv 8' avrotat Tlve^;

AF. A ipqtSiol

XeKova^i.

IIEI, Tdv Be 7nfX6v ive/SaXXouTO ttcS?;

ACT 11.

First M, That was the cleverest device of all, Sir.
The geese with their web-feet, as though with spades, ii46

Dipp'd down, and laid it neatly on the hods.

Pei. What feat indeed may not be wrought by feet?

First M, Ay, and the ducks, by Jove, all tightly girt.
Kept carrying bricks, and o«&er Urds were flying
With trowel on their heads, to lay the bricks.,, iieo

And then, like children sucking loUipops,
The swallows minced the mortar in their mouths.

Pei, Why should one hire paid labourers any morel
Well now, what next? who were the birds that wrought
The woodwork of the fort?

First M, Skilled carpenters,

The yellow-hammers: with their hammering beaks ii65

They finished off the gates : the noise they made

In hammering was exactly like a shipyard.

The fortress has its portals firmly fitted.

Supplied with bolts and bars, and guarded round :

The beats are paced : the bell is borne : the watch iieo

At every point established, and the beacons

Set on the towers. — But I must run away

And clean myself. Look you. Sir, to the rest.

[Exit First Messenger.
Cho. Sir, what's the matter with you? do you marvel

EPEISODION III. 53

AF.A TOVTf mycuff*, i^vprfro kol aoffxoTara*

ol XV^^^ VTroriirrovref; Strrrep rai^ cifiai^ 1145

i^ ra^ Xefcdva^ ivifiaWov avrolv rolv ttoSoZv.

IIEI. ri Sfjra 7r<J8€9 av ovk &v ipyaaaiaro;

AF.A Kal vrj AC ai vrJTraL ye irepie^axr/uiivaL
iifKivOo^opovV avG) Sk tov virar^tayka
iTrirovT expva-aL /caroinp .... 1150

&<nrep TratSla

rdv irrjkbv ev to?9 (rrofiaa-Lv al ;^€\*8ox'e9.

IIEI. rl Srjra fita-OdOTov^ &v en fnaOotro rc^;

<l>ip* fSft), tI Sal; ret ^v\iva tov relypv^ rlve^
direipyda'avT ;

AF.A Spvi0€^ l^a-av riicTove^

co^dyraroi, ireXe/cavre^y ot to*? p(ifi(l>€a'iv 1155

d7rerr€\i/ci](rav rd^ irvXa^' fjv 8* o KTinro<;
avrSv ireKeKtavTfov &airep iv vavirrfyitp,
teal vvv airavT ixetva irerrvktOTai irifXat^
teal jSefiaXdvcDTat Kal (fivkarrerai, icvKT^xpy
i<l>o8eti€Tai, tc(oSci)vo(l>opetTai, iravray^ 1160

^vKaKoX tca6e<m]Ka<rt teal <l>pvtcT€Dplac
iv rotari irripyot^, aW* €7® fikv dirorpexpav
dm-oviylrofiat' ai S' avrb^ ffhrj raXKa hpcL

[Exit Fi/rat Messenger.

XO. o5to9 tI TTOfe??; dpa davfid^ei^ Srt

ACT IL

Ihe^ fertaPMi hem heea, fbuh'd wit& aaudi afeed?

^eL Aj, l^ tibe godft: a wondraiiB work it i
In -very tmch k looka u> me like fictkxi.
BfBt wait a uomeai: Wie'a & mpwyngBTy
Oo^ ol iii(6 goAviift from ib^sag^ wiio'a naming to
Witk ifwe aa maotiai as a i^rxiiieiMiaiiia^

tkemdM. WlMtbo! wliatlio: wiwiiio: wk^kol wkmikDr

On« of tbMe gods from Zeaa^* ^hiee just
Fkfw ikanmf^ oar pstem into the mtiDOBSfhen^
All ttuckmrred of c«r daj-acoiitBy the jajs.

/InL O ihamcfol deed and imendmrnMe !
WinA of the godsY

Seecmd M. We know not Wings it had.

We know.

Pei^ Tonr eoone then, smelj, was to humcfa
Borne jeomanry upon its teack.

Secmd M. We did :

Our moimted arehera, thirty thousand hawks.
We «en(, all riding with their chiws acrook, uao

Falcon and hazzardf mltiire, ni^tjar, eagle:
Harkf with the rush and whirring of their wings

EPEISODION III. 54

otrcd t6 t€?%09 iKT€TeL')(jLaTai, ra'xy'y 1165

IIEI. vrj T0i)9 deoi<i ^(oye' koX yap d^iov

lea yap ^\rj0£^ ^aLveraL fioc ylrevBeaiv.
dXX iSe ^v\a^ yctp rtSv i/eeWev AyyeXo^
iadel irpo^ rjfia^ Sevpo iryppiyriv fiXiircov.

Enter Second Messeisger.

AF. B M>i) lov, loxj lov, lov iov. 11 70

IIEI. tL rh irpS^fjLa rovri;

Ar. B Beivdrara ireTTOvdafiev.

t£p yap de&v ris aprc rSv irapa rov A^cJ?

Bta Toiv irvkcop eiaeiner €9 tov dipa,

\a0(0v KoXoioi}^ ^vKaKa^ 'qfiepoaKOirov^,
IIEI. (S Seivdv epyov ical ay^^rKiov elpyaafievo^, 1175

Tt9 rSv 0€(Sp;
AT, B ovK lafiev' iri S' eZ;p^€ wrepd,

TOVT la-flfCV.

IIEI. ovKovv Srjra nrepLirokovi ixPV^

'irifiylrai xar avrbv €v0v^;
AF. B a\\' iwi/jbyltafiev

Tpia/wplov^ lepaxa^ i7i"7roTofoTa9,

^G)p€l Bk ira^ T49 ivxrxa^ i^y/cvkcofiivo^, 1180

pvfiri T€ /cal irrepolo'L Kal pov^rjfiaaLv

ACT II.

All ether shadders, as they seek the god.

Far off it cannot be : indeed I think

'Tis here already. ii85

Fei. Must we not get slings

And bows and arrows? Henchmen all, look out:

Shoot, smite : supply me, some one, with a sling.

[JSxit Peiihetavroa wUh Second Messenger,
Cho. Wcbr is rising, wo/r surprismg, Strophe.

Wcur between the gods and me;

So let every wcttchhi/rd see iioo

Th(U this, the child of Ere^os,
Owr cUmd-enci/rded atmosphere,
Be gua/tded stricth/, fa/r and nea/r.

Lest any god should pass unseen of vs. 1195

Look out, look out, each ca/reftd scottt, a/rownd, about,
Soms daemjovbS whirling through the lofty sky :
IPen now the winged sound approaches nigh.

Iris appears flying across the scene.
Peithetairos re-entervng.

Pei. Ho, madam, whither, whither, whither flying?
Stay quiet there; be still; restrain your course. laoo

Who and what are you? Whence arrived? declare.

Iris. I'm from the realm of the Olympian gods.

Pd. And what are we to call you? bark or bonnet?

Iris. Swift Iris,

Pei. Faralus or Salaminia?

EPEISODION III. 56

aiO'^p SovetTai rod Oeov ^rjTovfJLivov
Kdar ov fiaKpdv diraydev, aW' ivravOd irov
rihvi ^ariv. 1185

IIEI. ovKovv a^eviova^ hel Xafil3dv€tv

Kol r6^a' %cop€t Sevpo 7ra9 virrjpirrj^'
To^eve, irale, a'<f>€vS6vr)v rk p*oi Sotod.

[Exit FeUhetairaa with Second Messenger,
XO. irokefio^ atperaVy iroKefJbo^; ov ^ard^

7rp6^ ifie xal Oeov^. dXXd ipyXarre ird^ 1190

depa TrepLvi^ekov, ov SpelSo^ iri/cero,

firj ae XdOy Oe&v T49 tcuOtq irepoSv' 1195

iOpei, 8k 7ra9 KVKKtp o-kottoop,

C$9 iyyi^^ ijSrf Salfiovo^ ireSapalov

8/1/179 irrepoyrd^ <f>06rfyo^ i^aKoverai.

Iris appea/rs Jlymg across the scene.
Peithetaibos re-enteriri^i,

nEI. airri <n) ttoJ; irol irol Trirei; fiiv iiavj(p^,

ejf* drpifia^;' avrov GrffG*' i7rla-')(€fs rov Spofiov. 1200
rk el', TToSaTnJ; \eyeiv €')(prjv onrodev ir6T el.

IPIS irapd T&v 0eoSv Sycoye r&v oXvfiirUov.

IIEI. ovofJM Si aov ri iari; irXoiov ^ kvv^;

IPIS *I/3t9 raxeia.

IIEI. 7ra/}a\o9 fj oaXafivvla;

ACT II.

Iris. What means this) 120B

PeL Won't some buziard soar and seize herl

Iris, Seize me) What mischief's here)

Pei. Well make you smart.

Iris, All this is monstrous folly.

Pei. By what gate
Oame you within the fort, you shameless jade)

7m. I have no notion, really, by what gate. uio

Pei. You hear how she prevaricates. Did you
Appear before the jay-chiefs) Won't you answer)
Have you a passport from the storks)

Iris. What stuff's this)

Pei, You've got none)

Iris. Are you sane)

Pei. Did no bird-oaptaiu

Attend and set a label on your person) 12U

Iria. None set a label on my person, wretch.

Pei. And would you with such silent secrecy
Fly through a foreign city and through Ohaos)

Iris. And by what other road are gods to fly)

Pei. I have no notion, really; not by this. 1220

You're guilty, let me tell you: long ere now

EPEISODION III. 56

IPIS ri Bk rovTo] 1205

IIEL ravTTfvl Tt,<: ov avWijy^eTac

avoTTTOfievo^ rpiop'xp^ ;
I PIS €fik a-yXKYfy^eraL)

tI iror ea-rl tovtX rd tcaKov;
IIEI. olfioi^ei fuiKpa.

I PIS droirov ye tox/tI irpay/ia^
IIEI. Kara irola^ iriXa^

elirrjXOe^ i^ to T€L)(p^, w fiiapaTdrrf ;
IPIS ovK otSa fid AC iyoyy€ Kard irola^ irvXa^. 12 10

IIEI. fJKOva-a<: avrfj^; olov elpcoveverai;

7r/309 Toi)? Ko\otdpj(pv^ irpooTJXOe^; ov Xiyet,^;

a^paylh^ 6;^€t9 irapd t&v ireKapy&v^
IPI2 rl TO Ka/covi

IIEL ov/c i\a/3e^;
IPIS vyuiivei^ fiiv;

IIEL ovSk av/ii/3o\op

iirefiaXev opvi6apj(p^ ovhei^ aot irapoiv; 12 15

IPIS fid Ar OVK Ifioty iire^aXev ovSek, c3 fiiXe*
IIEL Konrei/ra SljO' oZt<o aitoiry SiaweTec

Bid T^9 iroXeo)^ T179 dXKoTpia^ koX tov ^aoi;?;
IPiS iroCa ydp aXK'p j(p^ irereaBai Toi>^ 6eov^\
IIEL OVK olBa fid AC eytoye' TyBe fikv ydp ov. 1220

dBiKct^ B4, KoX vvv dpd y oUrOa tovB* oti

8

ACT IL
You ought to have been seized and put to death,

«

No Iris in the world with greater justice,
If you'd got your deserts.

Iris, But I'm immortaL

Pei, You should have died in spite of that. Our case
Will be a cruel one, methinks, if, whilst 1225

We're ruling all the rest, you gods alone
Take every kind of license, not yet knowing
That you in your turn must obey your betters.
But tell me, whither do you steer your wings?

Iris. What, I? I'm flying on my father's errand, 1230

To bid men offer to the Olympian gods.
And on their bullock-sacriflcing hearths
To slaughter sheep, and fill the streets with savour.

Pel, What's this you're saying? Offer to what gods?

Iris, What gods? to us, the gods that are in heaven.

Pel, Are you then gods? 1235

Iris, What other gods exist?

Pei, Birds unto men are gods : to them must men
Now sacrifice, and not, by Jove, to Jove.

Iris, O fool, fool ! anger not the hearts of gods,
But fear, lest Justice with the spade of Zeus
Thy race in utter ruin overthrow, 1240

The torch thy body and thy circling domes
Keduce to cinders with Likymnian bolts.

EPEISODION III. 57

BifcacoraT av Xrjt^Beio'a 'jraa&v ^IpiBayv

IPIS aXX' d0avaT6<; elfi.

IIEL aXV 2/^0)9 civ direOave^.

Beivorara yap rot Treiaofiea-O', ifjuol SoKetv, 1225

el t£v fiev dWcov ap^ofiev, vfiel^ S* ol deoX
dKoKaaravelrey KovBiirco yvooaea-O* otl
dfcpoare Vfuv ev fiipec t&v KpeiTTOvayv,
(fypdaov Si to I fJLOi, rdi inepvye irol vavcrrokel^;;

IPI2 eyco; 7rpo9 dvOpdirov^ nrirofMac irapd tov irarpd^ 1230
^pdaovaa Oveiv T0i9 oXvfiTrioc^ 0eoi<;
fiTJXoa-^ayeiv re ^ov0vtoc<; eir io"x^dpai<i
KVLadv T dyvid<s.

IIEI. TL av Xeyet^] ttoIoi^ deoU;

IPIS cTToloKTiv; TjfiLv Tol<; iv ovpavS Oeol^.

IIEI. Oeol yap t;/A6?9; 1235

IPIS t/9 yap i(TT aWo9 ^609;

IIEI. opvide^ dpdpdiroKTC vvv elaiv Oeoi,

oh Ovriov avTOv<i, dWd fid AC ov 7^ AiL

IPIS (3 fioope, fieope, fxrj Oewv xlvec (fypiva^,

Sei(ra<; 27rcD9 fir/ crov 761/09 iravdXedpov

Ai09 fMaKeWrj irdv dvaaTpiyfrei BUi], 1240

Xiyvv^ Be (ToSfia xal Sofxcov TrepLTTTV^d^

KaratdakwaeL aov XiKVfiviaL^ l3o\aL<;»

8—2

ACT II.

Pet. Hark'ee, my lady ! cease your shrewish rant ;
Be still] with words like these, I wish to know,
Lydian or Phrygian do you think to scare) U46

If Zeus disturb us longer — mark me well —
His palace and Amphion's domes will I
Reduce to cindtrs with fire-carrying eagles:
And, warring on him, I'll despatch to heaven
Magogian birds, in pardskin uniforms, 1250

Above six hundred by the tale; and once
He found a single Magog troublesome.

Iris, Perdition seize you, wretch, with your vile language.
Fei. Shoo ! shoo ! be off, and suddenly : quick march !
Iris, My sire will quell your insolence, I swear.
Fei Dear, dear ! how very sad ! come, fly away, 1260

Fly, and reduce to cinders some small child. [JSasU Iris,

Cho. We*re excluding all intritding
Of the Jove-descended gods;
Through our /ortijled abodes
Never may they travel more.
Nor by this road to gods again
ShaU sa/oour rise of victims slain
On any mortals sacrificial floor, iMs

Fei. Too bad ! that herald who was sent to mortals.
It seems as if he never would return, 1270

Fnter Heral4.
Herald. O Peithetairos, thou blest, thou wisest,

EPEISODION III. 68

IIEI. atcovaoVy aZrrf irave rwv iraifyXcurfidTedv'

ex drpifia, <f>€p* tSoo, irorepa AvBop fj ^pvya

ravrl Xiyovcra fiopfioXvTTeaOai Soxet^] 1245

ap^ ol<tS' 2t£ Zeu? et fie XyTrrjaei irepa,

fieXaOpa fikv avrov koI Sofiov^ ^ Kfi^lovo^

KaTaiOaXdaoD irvp^opoiaiv deTol^\

'jrifJA^eo Sk irop^vpltovaf; €9 rov ovpavbv

opvi^ eir avTov iraphaXa^ evrjfifievov^ H50

irXelv e^aKoaiov^ rov dpiOfiov. koX irj irore

eU iropifyvpitov avrS irapea'xe irpayfiaTCL,

IPIS Svappayeirj^j w fieX\ avTo2<i prjfiaatv.

IIEI. ovic diroao^TjO'ei,^) ov Ta;j^€Ci)9; evpa^ Trara^.

IPiS rj fi'qv ae iravaei rrj^ v^peco^ ovfid^ Trarijp.

IIEI. otfioc ToXa^. ov/covp erepaxre irerofiemi 1260

KaraidaXwaec^ t&v vetoreptov Tivd\ [Exit Iris,

XO. diroKeKXyKafiev SLoyev€L<i 0€oi)<; >

firjKeri T'^v ijjirjv Biairepav ttoXvv,
firjSe Tiv lepoOvTov dvd BdireSov av ere 1265

rySe Pporwv Oeourc irifiTreiv Kairvov,

IIEI. heivov ye rdv KrjpvKa top irapd to\><; ^porov^

olxofi€vov, el firjBeTTore voarrjo-ei irdXiv, i2p

Enter Herald.
KH. cS TletOiraip^y <S fiaxapc, ci crocfxoTaTe,

ACT 11.

O thou thrke blest and noblest, thou smoothest,
Call silence, O call silence.

Fei. What's your news?

Herald. All people crown you with this golden crown
For your sagacious tact, and honour you. 1276

Pel. Thanks ! Why am I thus honoured of the people ?

Herald, O founder of a most illustrious
Etherial city, are you not aware
What honour you have won in men's esteem,
How many are enamoured of this land?

Until th's city was establish'd by you, i2so

All men had been Lakonomaniacs ;
They wore long hair, they fasted, they went dirty
Like Sokrates, they carried skytal-staves :
But now, converted, they've become birdmaniacs.
And in this new delight do everything

That's done by birds, in mimicry of them. 1283

First, when they wake at early mom, they'll fly
Together all to pasture, like ourselves.
And then they'll settle down upon the books.
And there continue feeding on decrees.

So manifestly bird-mad are they that 1290

To many men are given the names of birds.
One limping shopkeeper they call a partridge :
Menippus is a swallow, and Opuntius
An eyeless raven; Philokles a lark;

EPEISODION III. 69

w Tpia/iaKapi, cS KkecvoTar, c3 yXaipvpcirare'
gS KaraKeKevaoVy KaraKeXevaov.

IIEI, tI ai Xeyet?;

KH. a'T€<f>avqi ae 'X^pvcr^ rtpSe ao^ia^ ovvexa

o'Te^avovo'L KaX rifiooa-iv oi iravre^ Xecp, 1275

IIEI. Si^ofiac. TV S' ovTco^ oi Xe^ Tifiwcri fie)

KH. cS KXeivoTarrjv aiOepiov ol/cCaa^i iroXiv,

ovK olard^ iarjv Tifirfv trap avQpdmoi^i <f>ep€L,

o<rou9 T ipaoTci^ rrjo-Be rrj^ X^P^^ e;^€49.

TTplv /M€v yap olKlaac ae Ti^vSe rrjv iroXip, 1280

iXaKcovofidvovv &7ravT€^ ivOponTrov rore,

i/coficjv, eireivcav, ippvirfav, iaay/cpdroDVy

i(TKVTaXio(f>6povv' vvv S* viroa-Tpiy^avTe^ av

opvidofiavovai, Trdvra S* iirb t^9 r]Sovrj<:

iTOLovaLv airep opvide^ eKfiLfMov/ievoL' 1285

irp&Tov fihv €vdv<; Trdvre^ ef evvfjf; d/jua

iirerovff %co6ev wairep rjfiel^ cttI vofiSv'

KuireLT av afia KaTjjpov e? rd ^i^Xla"

elr av ive^iovr ivravda rd y^rjcfyla-fiaTa,

copviOofidvovv S' ovTO) 7repi<f>avoi)^ &<tt6 kclI 1290

iroXXouTLV 6pvL0cov ovofJLaT Tjv Keifxeva,

irepBi^ fikv eh KdirrfXa^ dvofid^ero

X(oX6f;, 'MevLTTirtp 8' i]v j^eXfcSciz/ rovvofia,

^OttovvtI^ S' 6<f>0aXfi6v ov/c e^tov Kopa^,

; ACT II.

Theogenes vulpanser, and Lykurgos 1205

Is term'd an ibis, Chaerephon a bat,

A magpie Surakosios; Meidias

A quail thej call, for he is like a quail

By a quaU-smiter wounded in the head.

And all from biitl-delight are singing ballads, laoo

In which is any mention of a swallow.

Of widgeon, goose, or woodpigeon, or wings.

Or e'en a slight suspicion of a feather.

Such tidings from that world. But one thing learn:

Ten thousand men or more will come to you laos

From thence, desiring wings and crook-claw'd Cushions :

So wings you must find somewhere for the comers.

Fei. Faith, then, our business won't be standing still.
Ton there, set off with speed, and fill the hampers,
And every basket you can find, with wings. [To a slave, isio
Let Manes carry to me out of doors
Those wings: and I'll receive the visitors.

^nter a vx)tddrbe Parricide.

/'
Pa/r, A high-flying eagle I would be

To fly o'er the surge of the barren blue sea.

EPEISODION III. 60

KopvS6<: ^t\oK\€€C, yrivciXdnrri^ ®€oyej/€i, 1295

Zy869 AvKoiprfcp, "Kaipe^oivTi vvfcrepk,
Xvpa/coal^ Sk Klrra' MecBla^ &' ixel
opTV^ eKoXelro* kuI yap yxetv 6pTvyi
VTT OpTUyOKOTTOV TTJP K€<f>aXrjv 7r€7r\7jyfiiv^,
^Sov S' VTTO <t>iKopvt0la<; iravre^ fieXrf, 1300

^TTOif 'XjekiSc^v ffv Tt9 ifjLireTTOLrjfiivij
rj irrjviXo'^ 17 j^i^i/ t^9 rj irepiarepa
fj irripvye^t tj irrepov tl koX afiiKphv irpoa-rjv,
Toiavra fiev raKeldev, %v he croc \iya>'
fj^ova iK€i0€v Sevpo irXetv fj fiipLOb 1305

wrepdiv Seofievoc kol rpoirav yafiyjfa}vvj(a)v*
ware irrepoSv coi roi<: iiroUoi^; Set iroOev,
IIEI. oH rapa fia AC Tjfilv Ir' epyov kardvai.

a\V ©9 Td')(i,aTa <rx> fikv Icop rd^ dppl'xpv^
KaX Toi)9 no^lvov^ airavra^ ifnTlfiirXi] irrep&v' 13 10

[To a slave,
Mavrj^ Sk <t>€piTeo /wi Bvpa^e rd irrepd'
€70$ S' eKelveop T0V9 irpoaiovra^i Si^ofiac.

^ JSnter a would-be Parricide.

HAT. yevolfiav aUro^ vyfrtiriTa^,

©9 &v TroTadelrjv virkp , , . drpvyirov
yXavK&f; iir olhfia Xlfiva^,

ACT II.

Fei. Our herald's tale seems likely to be true : mo

Here comes a fellow singing about eagles.

Far. Ho, ho 1 there's nothing half so sweet as flying :
IVe the bird -mania; yes, to fly I wish
And dwell with you; and I desire your laws. isifi

Fei. What laws d'ye mean? For birds have many laws.

Far. All : chiefly that it's held a law of honour
In birds to strangle and to peck their fathers,

Fei. Ay, and in fact when a young cock stands up
And spurs his sire, we hold him very — ^manly. laso

Far. Therefore I migrate hither, and desire
To choke my father, and possess his fortune.

Fei Yes, but we birds have got an ancient law
Kept in the record office of the storks.

That when the parent stork has reared his brood 1355

And turn'd them out all capable of flying.
The storklings in their turn must feed their sire.

Far. Much good then have I got from coming here.
If I must e'en be made to feed my father.

Fei. Nay, nay, not so : for since you came, poor wretch, i360
With friendly feelings to us, I'll contrive
To fit you, as an orphanbird, with wings.
But take this hint, young fellow, not a bad one.
Which I got in my boyhood: don't go back

EPEISODION III. 61

HEI. eoLKev ov yfrevBar/yeXija-eiv iyyeXo^. 1340

aBa)v yap 2Se t*9 aeroi)? Trpoa-epx^Tai*

HAT, al^ol'

ovK ea-TCV ovSev tov irerearOaL yXvfcvrepov'
opvLBofiavQ) yap Kal ireTOjiai, KaX ^oiXofiac
olicelv fi€0* vfi(Sv KaTnOvfMco tcov vofMov, 1345

HEI. iroiayv v6fi(ov) iroXKoX yap opvldcov vofioi,

HAT. irdvTGiv' fiaXiara B* ore kgXov vofii^ere

TOV TraTcpa toI<; cpvcacv ay')(eLv KaX BaKvecv,

nEI. KaX vrj AC avBpelov ye irdvv vofii^Ofiev,

09 dv 7r€7r\f]y7j tov iraTepa vcotto^ cSv, 1350

II AT. Bed TavTa fiivTOC Bevp^ dvoiKiaOeX^ iym

ay)(eiv i7ri6vfioo t6v iraTcpa KaX irdvT €^€ti/.

HEI. a\V eaTCV tjiuv toIo-lv opvuriv vofio^

iraXaw iv Tal<i twv irekapywv Kvp/Seaiv'

€7rrjv 6 iraTTJp 6 ireXapyo^ iKTreTrjalfiov^ 1355

irdvTa^ iroirjo'Tj toi)? TreXapycBrj^; Tpi<f>Q)v,

Bei T0U9 v€OTTOv<s TOV TTaTcpa irdXiv Tpe(f>€LV,

HAT. aTreXava-d Tapa vrj AC iXOcov ivOaBl,

etirep ye fioc KaX tov iraTepa ^ocrKrjTeov.

IIEI. ovBev y. eTreiBrjirep ydp ^\^e9, c3 /jueXe, 1360

evvov^, TTTepda-Q) a &airep opvw op^avov,
o'ol B\ (S veaviaK, ov /ca/cc59 VTroffrjaofiat,
dXX^ oldirep avTO^ efiadov 2x6 iral^ 'fj, av yap

ACT II.

And beat your fatber: but receive this wing

In the one hand, and this spur in the other, 1965

And wear this crest as 'twere a cock's : then go,

Serve both in garrison and in the field

For soldier's pay: so let your father live;

And since your tastes are warlike, Thraceward fly,

And fight your fill there.

Far, Ay, by Dionysus,

I deem your counsel good, and I'll obey
Your bidding. iSTo

Pet. 'Tis a wise resolve, by Jove. \EQcn^ Parricide.

Enter an Informer.

Inf, Hither as the track I follow,
Certain birds appear in view,

Dapplewing'd, without a sou; uio

O pinionstretching dappled swallow !

Pei, This newly-wakened pest is not a light one :
Here comes another fellow trilling airs.

Ir^. O pinionstretching dappled one 'da capo.' 1415

Pei, Methinks upon his cloak he sings the catch;
He seems to want no small amount of swallows.

Inf, Who is't supplies the visitors with wings?

Pei, Your humble servant. What are your commands?

Inf, Wings, wings I want: you need not ask me twice.

Pei, Direct to Woolston do you mean to fly? 1421

Inf, No : but an island-summoner am I,
And an informer.

EPEISODION III. 62

Tov fikv warepa fjurj rvirre' TavTi]vSl Xa/Scov

rrjv TTripirya koI tovtI to TrkfJKTpov Odripa, 1365

vofiiaa^ dXefcrpvovo^ i^^iv rovhl \6<j>ov,

if)povp€L, arparevov, fiKrOo^op&v aavrbv rpe^e,

TOV iraTkp la ^fjv' dXX iireiB^ fid'x^i^iio^ eZ,

€9 Taifi Spg^fCf}^ oTTOTTeTOV KUKel fidxov.

IIAT. vrj TOV Aiovva-ov eu ye fiot SokcU \iyeiv, 1370

teal irelaofiai aoi. [Eooit Farricide,

HEI. vovv ap ?f€A9 vi^ Ala.

Enter an Informer.

STK. opvL0h Tive^ o2S' ovSkv Ij^oin-e? irTepoTroUiKoi, 1410

TavvcLiTTepe irocKtKa ^^eXtSo?'
IIEI. tovtI ri Kaxiv ov ^avKov i^eypi^yopev.

8S' av ficvvpl^cov Sevpo rt? Trpoaep^eraL
2TK. TavvaiirTepe iroi/ctka fidlC avOi^. 14 15

IIEI. 69 Oolfidriov TO axoktov aiSecv fioc Soxeiy

ielaBai, S' loiKcv ovk oklyayv j(€\tB6va)v.
2TK. t/9 o irrepdiv Sevp* earl toi)9 d<f>iKvovfiivov<;;
IIEI. oSl Trdpea-Tiv' a\X' 2toi; Set j^p?) Xeyeiv,
IETK. TTTeptSv, 7rT€p(Sv Bet fi^ irvdy t6 SevTcpov. 1420

IIEI. fimv ev6\> HeXKrivii^ iriTeadac Scavoet;
STK. fid AC dXKa teXfjTi^p elfAt vfj(n<0Tik6^

zeal avfeo^dvTfj^

ACT II.

Fei. What a blessed trade !

In/, Ay, and a suit-promoter : so I want
A suit pf wings to fly about my circuit
And scare the cities with my writs of summons. 1425

Fei, With wings you'll summon then more cleverly?

Irif, No: but, to save annoyance from the pirates,
I'll travel back in the crane caravan,
With many lawsuits swallowed down for ballast.

Fei, So that's your business, yours, a strong young man.
To bring vexatious charges against foreigners? 1431

Irif. What can I do? I never leam'd to dig.

Fei, But surely there are other decent trades,
In which a fuUgrown man might get his bread
By doing rather than perverting justice. i486

Irif, Correct me not, but wing me, noble Sir.

Fei, I do, by speaking.

Inf. Wing by speech? how so?

Fei. All men are wing'd by speeches.

Inf. All men?

Fei. ' Yes.

Have you not often heard, when to their friends
In barbers' shops the fathers thus discourse :
*Too bad: Dieitrephes has wing'd with talk 1410

EPEISODION III. 63

IIEI. (S fiatcdpie t^9 tcj^i/t;?.

STK. koX 7rpar/fiaToSl(fyrj<;, cira Siofiat irrepci Xa/Swu

KVK\(p irepiao^elv tcl^ TroXet? KcCKovfievo^, 1425

DEI. virb TTTepvycov rl irpoa-KaXel ao^wTepov,
2TK. fJLa AC aW* IV ol Xyarai re firj Xvirwal fi€,

/Mera rwv yepdvtou r ixeWev ava'Xfidpw iraXiv,

dv0* epfiaro^ TroWa? KaTaTrewcoKoo^ Bifca^:,
IIEI. tovtI yap ipyd^ei av roSpyov; elire fwi, 1430

veavla^ Av avKO(pavT€i^ tov^ ^ivov^;
STK. tI yap irddto] orKairreLV yap ovk iiriaTaiiat,
IIEI. dXK! eariv erepa vrj AC epya (T(o<f>povat

d(j} (Sv Bia^rjv dvBpa XPV^ roaovrovX

ix Tov BcKalov fiaWbv rj ScKoppa<f>€iv, 1435

2TK. <S Sacfiovie, fifj vovOirec fiy dWd irrepov,
IIEI. vvv TOV XeycDV irrepo) ae.
STK, teal irw^ av X07049

dvSpa nrreptoa-eva^ av\
IIEI, Trai/re? tol \6yoL^

dvaiTTepovvrai,
2TK. 7raj/T69;

IIEI. ovic aKTjKoa^,

orav XiyaxTiv ol Trarepe? eKoarore

TOL^ <f>v\eTaL^ iv rourc Kovpeioi^ raSl;

Seivoif: yi fjLov rd fieipaKiov AuTpi(fyq^ 1440

ACT II.

That lad of mine to drive his curricle.'

Another says, his boy is all a-wing

For tragedy, and fluttered in his mind. 1445

Inf, So then by speeches they are wing'd?

Pei. They are.

By speeches intellect is elevated
And the man raised aloft. And so would I
Wing you with honest words, and turn you to
A lawful trada itfo

Inf, But I will not be turned.

Fei, What will you do then)

Inf. Not disgrace my kindred:

Informing's my ancestral occupation.
So fit me with some light and rapid wings,
Falcon's or hawk's, that I may serve my writs
On foreigners, then plead against them here, i45r

Jhen fly back there again.

Pci. I catch your meaning.

'TIS this : that, ere the foreigner arrives.
He may be cast in damages.

Inf Exactly.

Tei. And whQe he's sailing hither, off you fly
To foreign parts and seize his goods. 1400

Inf You've hit it

EPEISODION III. . 64

o he T49 Tcv avTOV <l>rja'ip iirX rparftpZia
avewrep^aOai KaX ireTroTfjadai Td<: tfipeva^. 1445

2TK, XoyoLdl rapa seal irrepovvrail

IIEI. <f>rjiA €760.

VTTO yap \6ya)v 6 vov^ re fiereoDpl^erai,
iiralperal 0* avdpwiro^. ovt(o kuI a iyd
avainepdiaa^ fiovKofiac 'xp^crrol*; Xo7ot9
rph^ac irpd^ Spyov vofjufjLov. 1450

2TK. a\V ov fiovXofjuat,

IIEL tI Sal iroc7](r€if;\

STK. tA 761^09 ov Karaia-'xyvw,

iramr^f; 6 filo^ a'vtco<f>aPT€iv ia-rl fioi,
dXkci wripov fie ra^'^o'c teal Kov<f>ob^ irrepoU
Upaxo^ 7j ieepj(vySo<:, (o<; av toi)? ^ivov^
/cdKeardfievo^ /cqir €yK€K\rfKW ivOaBl 1455

Kar ad irermfiai irakiv e/eela-e.

IIEI. fiavOdvoD.

(oSl TUyei^* Ztto)? ap (o<f>\i]Ky hiicriv
ivOaSe irplv ffKeiv 6 ^evo^.

STK. irdvv fiavOdpei^,

nEI. Kaireiff 6 p^p ifKel Sevpo, cd 8' eKela av irerei,

dpiraaofMepo^ rd XPVH'^'^* avTOV. 1460

2TK. irdpT e)(€i^.

9

ACT 11.

A top's the very thing to be.

Pei. A top !

I comprehend; and, by the powers, IVe got
These capital wings of Korkyrean make.
Irif. Woe's me ! youVe got a whip.
Pei. No, no; two wings,

With which I mean this day to set you spinning. [Whips him.
Inf. Alas, alas! 140B

Pei. Come, wing your way from hence

And trickle off, abominable hangdog:

Your justicetwisting tricks shall cost you dear. [EodU Informer.
Now let us gather up the wings and go.

\Evit Peithetmros with slaves.
Cho. Ma/ny vxmdrous things and new Strophe. 1470

Come before my gliding view :
Mcmy very stalling sights
We ha/ve noticed in owr flights.
From the common road apartj
At some distance beyond HaH,
Stands a tree beheld by vs.

And its name Kleon/umos: 1475

Fearfid His a/nd tall to see.
Yet a goodfor-nothing tree.
In the springtime when it grows.
Many a load of figs it shews,

STASIMON. 65

/5i/JLl3iKO^ ovSkv Si><uf}ip€iP Bet.
DEI. fiav0dp(o

fiifilSiKa' /cal fiffv €<tti fiot vrj rdv Aia

KoXXiara /copKvpaia roiavrl irrepd,
2TK. olfioi ToKa^, fidoTcy' €X€49.
nEI. TTTepcJ fi€V oiv,

oXa-l ere iroirjato rrfp^pov jSefi^iKiav, [Whips him. 1455
2TK. oifiot rdXa^.
DEI. ov TrrepvyicL^ ivTev0€p{;

ovK airoKiPd^ei^y co KdKiar diroXovfjuevo^;

iTLKpdv rd^ oy^ei a-TpeyjroBtKOTravovpylav.

t [Exit Irtformer.

diria)fjL€V Tjfiet^ ^vWafiovre^ rd irrepd,

[Eodt Feithetairos ivith slaves.
XO. TToWd S17 teal xaipd teal 0av^ 1470

fida-T iireiTTOfieaOa xal
Seipd irpdyfjuar etSofiep.
iari ydp SipBpop ttc^u^o?
Iktottop Tt KapBla^ a-

irtorepcd "KXedpypLO^^ 1475

')(pr}crifiop filu ovSip^ a\-
\fi>9 Bk BeiXqv KoX p,4ya.
TOVTO Tov fjifkv rjpo^ dei
fiXaoTTdpet Koi av/co^mpret, . .

9—2

ACT IL

But in winter on the Jidda \4»

Its branches shed not leaves hut shields.

Therms a region far atioa/y, Antistrophe.

Where ov/r pinions seldom strai/y

Unto Nightlands borders necMr,

In NoUgMLanHs desert drear.

There the cJiiMren of mankind 1466

Often have with heroes divHd^

And toith heroes can dbide.

Only not at eventide;

At that season Hwovid not be

Safe to keep their company.

If at night mortal wigh^t i4oo

• • •

Doth upon Orestes light.
Hero bold, he^s stript by him,
And smitten in each noble limb.

Enter Pbometheus disguised, amd under a sunshade.

Pro, Me miserable! mind Zeus see me not!
Is Peithetairos in? 1406

Re-enter Peithetairos.
Pel. Hilloal who's here?

What wraps are these?

Pro, D'ye spy ^ome god behind me?

EPEISODION IV. 66

Tov a j(€ifi£vo^ irdXiv Ttt9 1480

cunrlSa^ <j>v\Xoppo€l. .

ecTTft S' av x^P^ 7r/3^9 avrS

€v0a T0t9 rfpaxTLv dvOpto^ 1485

iroL ^xnfapi^T&crt KaX fi/i/-
e£<rt irXriv rrj^ €<nrepd<i,
rrjviKavra S* ovKer ffv

el fydp hfTvxot Tt9 ^p^ 1490

T&V /SpOTiSv VVfCT&p ^OpioTTI,

jVfjLvb^ ^v irKrjyel^ vir avTOV
irdma TairiSi^ui.

Bnter Prometheus disguised^ and under a sunsJtade,

nPO. otfioc ToXa^, 6 Zet)? ottoi? /*?; fi oy^era^

irov JleiOiraipo^ ear; 1495

Re-enter Peithetairos.

IIEI. ea tovtI tl ^v;

rk ovyKaXvfifiS^;

nPO. tSv 0€(3v 6p^^ TLVCU

ifiov KaroTTiv ivTav0a\

ACT 11.

PeL Not I, upon my honour! Who are you?

Fro, Inform me then what time o' day it ifl.

Fei. What time o' day? The early afternoon.
But who are you? isoo

Fro. Towards four o'clock, or later?

Fei. Your folly sickens me.

Fro. What's Zeus about?

Clearing the clouds off, or collecting them?

Fei. A mischief to you.

Fro. Well then, 111 unveiL [Throws off^his disguise,

Fei. Prometheus, my dear friend !

Fro. Stop, stop, don't shout.

FeL Why not? isos

Fro. Be quiet; don't call out my name,

I'm lost for ever if Zeus view me here.
But, while I'm telling you the news from heaven,
Just take this sunshade, will you? hold it up
Above my head, that so the gods mayn't see me.

Fei. Bravissimo ! a good device indeed, isip

Of true Promethean fancy! Come, be quick.
Step under, and then speak without alarm.

Fro. Now listen with attention.

EPEISODIGN IV, 67

IIEL /ta dkC iyw fiev ov.

rh S' el au;
nPO. irrfvi/c iarlv dpa t^9 i^fiipa^;

IIEL oTTTjvUa; afiiKpov rt fiera fiearffijSplav.

dXkci (TV TL^ eZ; 1500

nPO, jSovXvThi; fj Trepairepa]

IIEL otfi CB9 ^BeXvTTOfiai &e,
nPO. Tt yap 6 Zeu? iroiel;

aTraiOpcd^et ra^ V€(f>€Ka^ ^ ^vvvi<l>€Vf
IIEL ot/jLa>^€ /i€7a\\
nPO. ovTto fiev i/CKoXifylro/JuiL

[Tho'ows off his cUaguise,
IIEL cS ^iXe npofjLTjOev.
nPO. 7rav€f irave, fjbtj /36a,

IIEL tI yap ear*; 1505

nPO. alya, (mtj KoKei fiov rovvofia'

dird yap fi oXel^, et fi ivddK 6 Zei)? oy^CTai.

aXX' iva <f>pouT(o cot iravra ravoa irparffiara^

tovtX Xa^div fjLov rb aKcdBeiov virepe'xe

av(oo€V, 0)9 av fit) fjL opwatv 01 ueot,.
IIEL toi) lov' 1 510

€v y iirevorjaa^ avrd /cat 7rpofi7j0itc£^.

VTToBvOi Taj(y Sfj Kara Oapp'/jca^ Xeye.
nPO. aKove Bi] vvv.

ACT II.

Pei. Speak: I listen.

Pro, Well ! Zens is ruinecL

PeL Can you date his ruin?

Pro, From your first atmospheric settlement. isis

No man from that time offers anything

To gods; no savour comes to us on high

From legs of mutton: mulcted of our victims,

We fast as in the Thesmophorian days:

And wild with hunger the barbarian gods, 1520

All screeching like lUyrians, fiercely say

Theyll march their armies from above on Zeus,

Unless hell open all the ports, that tripe

And sausages may enter duty-fre&

PeL How? are there other and barbarian gods i6a5

Above yourselves?

Pro, What are they but barbarians,

Whence Exekestides obtains his siregod?

Pel. And these barbarian gods, what is their name?

Pro. Their name? Triballi

PeL Oh, I understand :

That means to say, they are a Hribe allied.' isao

Pro, Just so. But let me state on^ certain fact:

EPEISODION IV. 68

nEI. CO 9 aKovovTo^ Xiye,

nPO. aTroKcaiKev 6 Zev^,

IIEL irqviK arr dirdXcro;

nPO. €f ovirep Vfieh ^fclaare rbv aepa. 15 15

diet yap ovSel^ ovSkv avOpdiraav ^c
OeoXa-iv, ovBe Kvtaa iirjpUov airo
dvrj\0€p ©9 ?7/Lta9 ott ckcIvov tov ypovoVj
dW' wcTrepel 0€<r/jLO<f>opioi9 vrfaTevofiep
av€V 0V7)\£p' ol ik fiapfiapoc deoX 1530

7r€ti/c3i/T€9 &<nr€p ^iWvpioX KeKpiryore^
iiruJTparevcreiv <f>da dvoadev r^ AU,
et firf wapi^ei rdfiiropC dvet^fiiva^
Xv elo'dyoiTO airXdrfxya KaraTerp/rj/iiva.

nEI. elalv ydp irepoi ^dpfiapoi Oeol t4i/€9 1525

nPO. 01; ydp elai fidp/3apot,

Wev irarp^o^ iariv ^^^rfKearlSfj;
IIEL ovofia Sk rovToi^ T0Z9 0€oi9 to?9 ^apffdpoi<:

nPO. 2 Tt €<mv; Tpi/SaWol.

nEI. fiav0dva),

ivT€v0€V dpa ToviriTpi/Selrf^ iyevero; 1530

nPO. fidTuara irdvrtov. iv Si aot \iy(o aa<f)€^'

ACT II.

From Zeus and those Triballians up above

Envoys are coming here to treat for peace :

But don't conclude on any terms but these :

That Zeus restore the sceptre to the Birds, i536

And give you Royalty to be your bride.

FeL Who is this Royalty?

Fro, A lovely maid,

Who has the charge of Zeus's lightning-closet
And all his other stores, his maxims sage.
His wholesome laws, his temperance, his dockyards, isjo

His slang, his paymaster, his sixpences.

FeL Why, then she keeps his all.

Fro. She really does:

And when youVe got her from him, youVe got all.
'Twas for that reason that I came to tell you:
IVe always been a zealous friend to men. 1545

Fei. True; you're the only god through whom we grill.

Fro. And all the gods, you're well aware, I hate.

Fei. Yes, this cleaves to you ever, hate of gods.

Fro. A genuine Timon ! But I must run back ;
So hand me here the sunshade, that, if Zeus isso

From upper realms behold me, I may seem
To follow in due form the basket-bearer.

Fei There ! take this campstool also for your purpose.

[Eocit Fromethetis.

END OF ACT n.

EPEISODION IV. 69

fj^oviTi 7rpe<ry8e49 hevpo irepl huiXKarf&v

irapa rov A^o? koX t&v TpijSaWoiv roiv avta*

VA&et? 06 /xt; airevbeao y eav /atj Trapabtoa)

TO aKYjirrpov 6 Zei)? rotaiv opviacv iroKtv, 1535

KoX rrjv ^aaCKetdv <tol yvvaiK €)(€LV Sl8^.

nPO. KaXKloTT) KOprjf

riirep ra/juievec rev Kepavvov rov Ato?
KoX TaX)C aira^airavTa^ rrjv €v/3ov\lap,
TTJp evvofilav, Trjv am^poa-vmjv, rd vedptay 1540

Tfjv XoiSoplav, TOP Ka)\aypiTi]v, rd rpKo^dka,

nEI. Ubiravrd rap avT<p raficevet;

npo. (i>i]fi €70).

fjv y fjv en) Trap iieeivov TrapaXd^'p^, iravr e;^et9.

TovTtov €V€Ka SeOp* ffKdoVy Lva ^pouraifil aoi.

del TTOT dvOpJmoL^ yap eijvov^ etfi iyoo. 1545

IIEI. fjLOVov Oe&v yap Sid a diravOpaKi^ofiev.
nPO. fiiaS S* airapra^ toi)? Oeov^, ©9 olada <rv.
IIEI. vrj TOP AC del Br^ra OeofiLarj^ €<f>v^.
II PO. Tlfitop KaOapo^, dXX c»9 dp dTroTpi^o) irdXip,

<f>ip€ t6 aKuiSetop, Xpa fie k&p 6 Zei}^ IBjj 1550

av(o0€Py dfcokovOelv Soxoi xapTf^optp,
IIEI. Kol t6p Sl^pop ye Bt^po^opec topBI Xa^dp,

\^Exit Prometheiu,

ACT IIL

ScESTBL Fart of Ae ramparU cf ClomBatAoAonmgk ; an
aleave «» ike woeme as a HjcJLem when PnrmRAiBOS is
engaged wiik sUaxs cooking. Ewier PoBnooir, Hkraklbs
and Teiwai J4WL

Pos. ^*ffg"JiJJU 18 the fortress of doadcackDoborongh

Within our Tiew, to whidi we're sent as
envoys.

Whafs that joa're doing theret pulling your doak
To ihe left side in that ungainly stylet
Pnt round and draw it, can't yoat to the rig^t.
Ah, clumsy being! you're a bom Laispodia&

\To the TribaUian god.
What win you bring us to. Democracy^ 1570

If the gods choose a deputy like thist
Be stilL Tou plague! Of all the gods Fve seen
You are the one most barbarous by far. [To the TribaUian again.
Well, Herakles, what's to be done?

Iler, YouVe heard.

ACT III.

Scene. Pa/rt of ths ramparts of Clovdcuckoohorimgh ; am,
alcove in the scene as a kitchen where Peithetairos is
engaged with slaves cooking, ErUer Poseidon, Herakles
and Tbiballos.

^^-^^ E^li^l^ t^^^ iroKuTfia rrj^ N€(l)e\o/coK/evyia^ 1565

opav ToSl TrdpeoTiv, ol irpefT^evofiev,
ovTo<i tL Spa^; ctt' dptcrrep ovtg)9 dfiTri'xei;
ov jMera^aXel OolfidrLov wS* iirl Be^la;
rly cS /caicoSacfiov ; AatavroBla^ el rrjv ^va-/>v;

[To the Trib{dlian god.
c3 SrjfioKparla, irol 7rpo^L^a<; rjfia^ irore, 1570

el roi/TOvl Ke')(€(,poTOvrjica<r ol 6eoi\
%^eL^ drpi/JLa^i] of/xa)^€' iroXv yap Si] <r iydo
iopa/ca iravrtav fiapfiapoiraTov 6e&v^

[To the TribalUan again.

ar/e Brj rl Zp&iiev, *HpdicKus\
HP. dicriKoa%

ACT HL

1 want to strangle him outright^ the man, isTS

Whoe'er he is, that's walling out the god&

Po8, Nay, Sir, bat our instructions are to treat
For peace.

Her. So much the more I vote for strangling.

«

Pd, Hand the cheese-scraper, somebody : fetch silphium ;
Bring cheese, and heat the coals within the grata ibbo

[Aside to slaves.

Pos, We bid the gentleman good day, we gods^
Three in commission*

PeL Ndw then, scrape the silphium. [As before.

Her. What meat is this you're dressing ? [To PeUhetavros.

Pel. Certain birds

Against the democratic birds arose,
And suffered condemnation for high treason. ices

Her. So then, you first scrape silphium on them, do youl

Pel. Ah, Herakles, good morning. What's your pleasure?

[Recognizing HeraMes.

Pos, We're come as envoys from the gods to treat
About a termination of the war.

Pei. There's not a drop of oil within the cruse.

Her. And yet your volaille wants a nice rich sauce. 1500

Pos. We for our part gain nothing by the war.
And you, by being friendly with the gods.

EPEISODION V. 71

ifiov y 2x4 TOP avOptoTTov dyxetv jSovXofiatf 1575

2<7T*9 TTOT €<J0 6 TOl)? OcOIJ^ d'n'OT€L')(^l(Ta^,

nOS. aXV, cSya^*, ypijfieaffa irepX SiaWaywv

irpicr^ei^.

HP. BvirXaaiayf; /iSXKov ayyeiv fioi So/cel.

IIEI. T?)i; TVpoKPrfaTlv Tt9 Sotg>' ^epe al\(f>Lov'

Tvpov i\>€peT(o TA9' irvpTTokei TOx)<i avOpaxa^, 1580

[Aside to ah/ves.
DOS. Toz/ avBpa 'Xjalpeiv ol Oeol KeKevofxev

rpel^ ovT€^ rjixel^,
IIEI. dW' iiriKvA t6 a'iXxf>iov. [As before.

HP. rd Se Kpia rov ravr iarlv ; [To Peithetavros.

HEI. ipvtOh Tcve^

iiravioTd/xevoi T0Z9 SrjfWTiKoco'iv opviot^

eSo^av dhiKelv, 1585

HP. elra Sfjra trtKifiLOv

iiriKvy^ irpoTepov avTolcriv ;

HEI. w xalp i ^UpaKXeif:,

tI eari ; [Recognizing Heraldes.

nOS. irpea^euovre^; '^^ei^ fJKo/Mev

wapd tSv de&v irepX rov iroXefxov KaraXKcvyrj^.

HEI. ekaiov ovfc evearcv ev ry XtjkvO^,

HP. Koi ixrjv rd y opvldeui Xiirdp* elvav irpeirei. 1590

n02. iJ/ieZ? re ydp 7roXe/ioui/T€9 ov KepSalvofiev,
Vfiel^ T dv rjpZv rol^ 0€oU ovt€<; <f>CKoi

ACT III,

Would have rain-water in your tanks at once.

And live without cessation halcyon days.

On all these points we bring fall powers to treat. isos

Fei. Well; we were not the first in former time
To war with you; and, now, if so resolved,
And if at last you're willing to do justice.
We'll come to terms. Our just demand is this,
That Zeus restore the sceptre to us birds. leoo

And if we settle things on this condition,
I shall invite the embassy to luncheon.

Her. I'm quite content with this, and give my vote —

Fo8, For what, you madman ? You're a silly glutton :
You'll rob your father of his royal swayl igq6

Fei. So, sol and wo^'t you gods be stronger far
If birds command below? For mortals now
Conceal'd beneath the clouds hang down their heads,
And call on you to witness perjuries.

But, if you have the birds for your allies, leio

When by the raven and by Zeus a man
Shall swear, and break his plight, the raven then.
Approaching unperceiv'd, shall pounce on him,
And strike his eye out with a single blow.

Fo8, Ay, by Poseidon, this at least's well said.

JTer. I think so. I615

F08, What do you say ] [To the TrihaUian,

EPEISODION V. 72

o/ij3piov iS(op av elyeT iv roU riKfiaa-iv,

aXKVovIZm T av rjyeO^ i^fiipa^ del,

TOVTWv irepl irdvTO)V avroKpdrope^ r/fcofiev. 1595

IIEI. a\V ovT€ irphrepov irtoiroff' rjfiel^ rip^ajJL€V

irdKi/iov 7rpo9 vfia^, vvv r iOiXofiev, el Soxeit

icbv t6 SUaiov dWci vvv i0iXr)T€ Spav,

a-TTOvSa^ TTOietaOaL rd Sk iUaC ia-rlv raBl,

t6 atcrjiTTpov ^fiiv rouriv opvcaiv iraKiv 1600

rov dkC diroSovvat* /civ ScaXKarrcifieOa

€7rl TOurSe, roi^: Trpia-^ei^ err dpicnov KoKm.

HP. ifjioX fikv dir6y(pri ravra Kal '^^i^ofiat^ —

nOS. tI, S /eaKoBai/jbov ; rfKldiof; ical yda-Tpi^ eZ.

diroarepel^; rdv irarepa rfj^ rvpavvlSo^; 1605

IIEI. dXrjOe^; ov ydp fiei^ov vfjuei^ oi 0€ol
Icrxfia-er, fjv SpvcOe^ Ap^toatv Karon ;
vvv yAv 7' \mh toli^ v€(f>i\at(nv irfKe/cpvfi/JiivoL
Kv^avT€<; iTnopKovaiv vfia^ oi jSporol'
idv Sk Toi)? Spvi^ ^X^'^^ avjifid'xpv^, 1610

irav ofiviiy t^9 t6v xSpa/ea Kal rhv Ata,
6 /c6pa^ irapeKddv rovinopKovvTO^ XdOp^f
wpo(rrrT6fi€vo^ i/exSylrei rov o^OaXfidv Oevdv.

nOS* v^ t6v Ho<r€iB£ ravra ye roc /caXoi^ \4yeti9.

HP. xdfiol Sofcet 161 5

IIOS. ri Bal en) (fyj^ ; [To the Trihalliom,

10

ACT HL

Tri. Nftbaisatreu.

Pd. Yoa see, he gives assent. Hear foithennore
How great a service we've in store for you.
If any man shall vow to any god
A sacrifioe, and then with artful quibbles
Excuse himself and say, 'The gods can wait/
Declining from mere stinginess to pay, !<»>

This also well exact.

F089 How sof lefs see.

PeL When the man's counting out a petty sum,
Or sitting in his bath, a kite shall swoop
Unnotic'd, clutch the coins, and carry up
The value of two sheep unto the god. los

Her, I vote for giving back the sceptre to them.

P08. Ask the Triballian next.
Her, Do you, Triballian,

Consent to a sound whipping?

Trl Stikaliki

Mifji.1ri.

ffer. My proposal's good, he says.

P08. If you both vote so, then I vote with you. isao

Her, Sir, we concede this point about the sceptre. [To Peiath,
Pel, Ay, but there's one thing more which I forgot.

Hera indeed I yield to Zeus, but he

Must give the Princess Boyalty to me

EPEISODION V. 73

TPI. vafiaca-arpev.

IIEI. opa^; hratvel j^pdro^. Srepov vuv eri,

aKovaaff oaov vfid^ ar/adov Troii]<rofi€V.

eav T^9 dvOpoiTTODv Upetop r^ Oewv

ev^dfiepo^ elra Sui<ro<l}i^i^Tai Xiytov,

psveroX 0€ol, Kol fidiroSiSip fiiarfrlif, 1620

dvaTrpd^ofiep xal ravra.
n02. ipip i!Sa> T^ rpoTT^;

IIEI. irav SiapvOfjmv dpyvpiStov tv^V

ivOptoiro^ oSto^, ^ KaOrjrai \ovpb€vo^^

/earaTTTo/Mevo^ l/erivo^ dpircura^ \d0p^

irpofidrotp Svoiv ripbrjv dvoUrei, to5 Oe^. 1635

HP. TO aicrprTpov diroBouvai iraKiLv y^<j}l^ofjLac

TOVTow eyo).
nOS. KoX TOP TpifiaXkop pvp epov.

HP. o TpifiaXKo^, olpai^eip Soxei cot;
TPI. aavpdxa

fia/crapucpova-a.
HP. {fyrjal fi ed XiyeLP irdpv,

nOS. el Toi SoKcZ <r^p ravra, KOfjuil <rvpSoK€t 1630

HP. OVT09, Soxei hpap ravra rod a/d^irrpov irepL, [To PeistL
HEI. Kol pt] At' &rep6p y iarlp oS */jbP^(T0rjp eyd,

TTJp fjifkp yap ''Hpap TrapaSiSoDfic r^ Ail,

Ttjp Se ^ctatKeuip t^p Koprjp yvvcuK ifiol

10—2

ACT III.

In lawful wedlock. less

Po8. Peace is not your object:

Let us go home again.

Pel. Little I care.

Cook, mind you make the sauce sweet

Her. My good man

Poseidon, whither are you rushing off?
Are we to go to war about one woman 1
' Po8. What must we do theni . vmo

H&r, Come to terms of course.

Po8, Poor wretch, you know not that you're being duped.
You harm yourself moreover. If Zeus die,
After the kingdom has been given to these.
You'll be a pauper: all the money's yours
That Zeus will leave behind him at his death. i646

Pd, O dear, O dear ! how sadly he deceives you !
Oome here aside, and have a word with me.

Your uncle sets you wrong, unhappy Sir;

Not one hair's breadth of all your father's goods

Is yours by law. You're illegitimate. leeo

Her, I illegitimate? What can you mean?

Pei, You are, by Zeus ! a foreign woman's child :
Or how d'ye think Athene could be heiress,
A daughter, had she lawful brothers living?

EPBISODION V. 74

iKSoriov iarlv. 1635

nOS. ov BiaWar/oiv ipa^,

IIEI. okljov fioL fiiket.

fjuiyevpe, rb tcaTayya-fia XP^ iroielv yXvKv,
HP. <S SaifjLOVv dvOpdiironv Iloo-etSoi/, irol <f>epeL\

nOS. tL Sal irouSfiep; 1640

HP. Tt; ButWarroifieda.

nOS. tI 8*, ^Jfvp'; ovK ola6* i^airaroi/Mevo^ Trakai;
pKairrev^ Be tov <n) aavrov. rjv yap diroddvrf
6 Zev^, irapaBob^ tovtouti, rrjv rvpavvlBa
irivfj^ eaet &v. aov ydp diravra ylyverac
rd XP^M^^y ^^' ^^ ^ Zev^ diroffif^a-Ktov KarciKlirri.

HEI. oXpiOb ToKa^ olov ae ireptao^l^eTai,, 1646

Bevp ©9 ip! diroxfipifiaov, Xva rl <toi (f>pda<o,
BiafidXKeral a 6 0€io^, & irovripe trv,
T&v ydp irarpfptdv oi5S' d/eaprj p^irearl aot
Kard Tov^ i/o/aou9* v60o^ ydp el kov yvrjaio^. 1650

HP. eycJ v66o^\ rl \eyei^;

HEI. en) pAirrot, vrj ^la

Sv y ix ^ivq*; yvvaiKo^, rj ttcS? av irore
eirUXTipov elvac rrjv ^AOrjvalav Boxeh,
ovaav Ovyarip^ ovroav dBe\<f>wv yvriaUov ;

ACT III.

Her, Well, but suppose my sire give me the money 1666
After his death, by special codicil,
As to a spurious son.

Fd. The law forbids him.

Why, this Poseidon, who's now cramming you,

»

Will be the first to claim your father's money,

Saying that he himself is lawful brother.

Ill now recite to you the law of Solon: isao

' A bastard shall hare no inheritance while lawful children are
alive, and, if there are no lawful children, then the next of kin
shall share the property between them.' loae

Her. So then I've no claim to my father's money?

Fd, No, none, by Zeus. Just tell me, did your father
At any time present you to his wardsmen?

Her, Met never: I'd been wondering at it long. leTO

Pe% Why stare up at the sky with looks like cudgels?
Stand on our side, and 111 create you king,
I'll give you bird's milk to your heart's content.

He/r, Again what you propose, I think, is just

About the maiden, and I yield her to you. 1079

Fd. And what say you? \To Faaeidon.

F08, I vote the other way.

FeL All rests with the Triballian. What say you?

[To the TribaOicm.

EPEISODION V. 76

HP. t/ 8' tjv 6 Trarrjp ifiol StB^ rd j(pi]fiaTa 1655

voOeV diroOvritTKoov;
IIEI. <S v6fio^ airov ovk ia.

0VT09 HotreiBciv irp&ro^y 89 hralpei ae vvv,

avffi^erai trov r&v irarp^v j(pi^fKiToi)v

^aaicoav dSeX^d^ avrd^ elvat 71^0*109.

ipS 8h £97 teal TOP ^6\a}v6<; aoi vofiov, 1660

v60q> Sk fifj elvai ay^ifOreUiv iralZcav ovTtov yvrjaitov.

iciv Bk TToiSe^ p,fj coai yvrja-voi, T0J9 eyyvrdro) yivov^

fieretvai nSv 'xp^ifidnov. 1666

HP. ifiol S* dtp' oifhkv T&v irarp^dDv yprnjidTiov

HEI. 01; fikvTOi fid Ala. Xe^ov S6 fwt,

^&7 a 6 irarrjp elaijyar/ €9 rov^ <f)pdT€pa^i
HP. ov SrJT ifii ye. Kal S^r iOavfia^ov irdXai. 1670
HEI. r/ S^r* avto /c€j(7jva^ oIkUlv fi\eira)v ;

a\V ^v fjueff Tjfmv ^9, KaTaarrfaaf; a iyoa

Tupavvov opvlOfov irapi^co aoc ydXa,
HP. BiKaC ifioi/ye Kal irdXnf BoKel^ Xiyecv

irepl r^9 fcSprj^, xdyoir/e irapaSlS<Dfil aoi, 1675

HEI. tI Sal <n) ^9; [To Poseidon.

nOS. rdvavrla '^<f)C^ofjLat.

HEI. iv r^ Tpi/3aW^ irdv t6 irpS/yfia. rl cij \^6t9;

[To the Triballian.

,Ja^ ^ ^mtr^ jar n^da^

^^-x.. V',3r. tu»tt .«- 4ers »- ^Atda jair -ik

^>ji»; Vf-tl rrsia» T*Tr -tattiw. oscL mu^
,^*. ^0iv^. ^tli. m *K nsBsvtt Tgcraeif-. -iMie: -Met

,i^r ^il TTOL lee

4^PsiwfcifA^- WW .'fwnr -bait .ivasc; '▼mie^ -yssL

i^^^ L«t: ^mmt^ -out ^s^ .ne mr. i. -v^edmn^

'>

EXODOS. 76

TPI. KoKoLVi ic6pavva teal fieydXa jSaacXipav

opvcTO irapaBiScjfiL
HP. irapaSovpcu \iy€i,

nOS. fict TOP AC ovj^ o2ro9 ye wapaSovvac Ai7€t^ 1680

el i^rj fiafipa^ei 7' &a'ir€p al yeXiZive*;.
IIEL ovKovv irapaSovvai, rai^ %6X£S(i(r£j/ \4yei,
nOS. c^co iwv BtaWaTTeaOe koI ^vfi/Salvere'

eyci S*, errecS'^ a<j>^v SoKeZ, airfijaofuu,
HP. i^fuv & X€76i9 <ri) irdvra avrf)(fopelv Soxei. 1685

oXV X0C yueff fiii&v axno^ ^9 Thv ovpavov,

Xva TTJv ^aatkeiav seal rci irdin ixei Xdffr)^.
HEI. 69 Kavphv ipa KareicSwqaav ovrotX

69 T0V9 ydfiov^,
HP» fiovKeade SfjT iyco Tefi)9

oTTTcS ra #ep6a Taml fjbipcjv; vfiek S' 2t6. 1690

n02. oirra^ rd Kpia; ttoKKtiv ye revdeiav Xe7e69.

ovK el fieff TjfJLcSv;
HP. ev ye fievtav SierlOijv,

HEI. dX\d yafiiKfjv x^^^^ Soto) ti^ Sevpo fJML

[Exeu^ FeUhetairos amd the three gods.

After cm intervcU enter Third Messenger.

AF. r eS wdvT dr^add irpdrrovre^, cS fiel^o) \6yov,
(S rpifffia/cdpiov 7m]v6v opvlOcav 761/09,

. ACT III.

Tri, Dipritti girli biggi royalbaki
Abirdi yieldimL

H&r. He says he yields.

Po8. No, no! he does not really say he yields, leso

But only twitters as the swallows do.

Pel, Why, then he says he yields her to the swallows.

Po8, "Well, draw your clauses, and arrange between you :
For, since you're both agreed. 111 say no more.

Her. Our vote is, to admit all your conditions. less

But come with us to heaven yourself: there take
The Princess Boyalty and all her trousseau.

PeL In seasonable time then for the wedding
These birds were slaughtered.

Her. Will you let me stay

Meantime and roast this meat, while you depart? laoo

Po8, You roast the meat? much tastiug's what you want.
Come on with us.

Her, I should have been in clover.

Pel. Let some one get me out a wedding-mantle.

[Exev/nt PeUhetairoi a/nd the three gods.

After cm interval enter Third Messenger.
Thvrd M, O ye of every coimtless good possest,
O flying race of birds, supremely blest,

EXODOS. 76

TPI. kclKovi, Kipawa koX /leyaXa fiaciXivav

opviTo irapaSiScofii.
HP. wapaBovvai X^et.

nOS. fict rbv A/* ov;^ oiro^ ye irapaSovvac \iyei, 1680

el firj I3afipd^€c y &a7rep al j(€Ki86ve^.

IIEL ovKovv irapaSovpat raU ^eX^Sdo-^i/ Xiyei.

nOS. (rffxi vvp SuiWdTT€<r0e xal ^vfilSaivere*
iyd 8', iireiS'^ a^^v Soxet, a-iytja-ofiai,

HP. i^p,tv a \iy€i^ cri) Trdvra axjyxfopelv Boxei. 1685

aW* Wc fbeff Tjfjmv airrh^ i^ rbv ovpavop,
Iva Trjv ^aaCkeuLv koX tcL ttAvt ixel Xd^ri^,

HEI. 69 Kai,phv dpa KaTeKSmja'av ovtolI
€9 T0^9 ydfiov^.

HP, fiovXeaOe Brjr €7(0 Tea>9

OTTTcS rd Kpea ravrl fiepcjv; vfiel^ S' tre, 1690

«

n02. 07rTp9 tA Kpia ; woXXi;!/ 76 revOeiav Xeyev'i,

oifK el fieff 7J/Jboiv;
HP. ev ye fiijrfav SieriOrjv,

HEI. dXXd yafiLKTJv j^XapiSa Borto ri^ Sevpo fioi,,

[Exev/rU FeUhetairos cmd the three gods.

After cm mterval enter Third Messenger.

AF, r (J irdpT dr/a0d Trpdrropre^, cS fiel^o) \6yoVy
(S TptafiaKdpcop wrrjpdp oppiOtop yivo^y

ACT IIL

Beceive the monarch in his prosperous home.

He comes, he comes: like him in goldbright dome

Ne'er dawn'd to view the foll-orVd glittering star: mo

No beamy splendour of the sun from far

Shone forth so glorious as the queenly bride

Of untold beauty moving by his sida

Flashing the wingkL levin-bolt of Jove

He comes, while soars to vaulted skies above I7i5

A scent unutterable, beauteous sights

And incense-breezes coil a smoky lights

Himself appears: the goddess Muse to-day

Behoves from holy lips to pour the auspicious lay.

Peithetaibos amd Basileia descmd vn, a flying coTf whUe the

Chorus sings,

Cho. Boom /or the convpcmy I cheerily , merrily wo

Flutter wraumd hwm^

Wishing him joy of ike joy ihat has eroum*d him I
bHssf UissI

What bloom 0/ youth, what hea/uty this!

*

To the city of thy sway

Ha^ftpy is thy rruji/rriage danf, iTs

Great f&rt/wne for the Birds is stored,
Yea, great, through this victorious lord.
So with HyvMfrCs songs of glee
And bridal carols welcome ye
Him a/nd his partner Royalty. iTao

EXODOS. 77

84')(€a'0e Tbv Tupavvov 6\l3loi<: Sofioi^.

'irpoa-€pj(€T(U yap 0Z09 ovB^ irafKfHirj^

darrjp tSetv tKafi'^e ypvaaxryel 86fi(p* 17 10

ovS* riXlov TTiXavyk^ cuctIvcjv <re\a9

ToiovTov i^ekap/^eVy olov lpj(€Ta^

ej^tov yvvaiKO^ koXXo^ ov <f>aT6p Xeye&i^,

TToXXoDv K€pavv6v, 7rT€po<f>6pov ^169 l3iKo^'

dap/rj S' dvoDvopxLOTOf; h fidOo^ /ev/cKov 17 15

)((opei, KoXbv diap^' Ovp^iapbdranv S*

aipai hui/>^alpov<TL irXeKrdvrjv xairvov.

oil Sk KavTo^ iariv. dKKd jfpfj 0ed^

MoTiarj^ dvoiyetv iepdv ei^ptov OTop^a.

Peithetaibos cmd Basileia descend in a flymg cary wkUe the

Gkorus sings,

XO. avtvye, SUx^, irdpaye, irdpex^' i7«o

irepi/irireade

p,dKapa pAxapc adv T6')(a.

CO ^ev ^€v T^9 &pa^, rod koXKov^,

c3 p^a/capioTOP ai^ ydp^v r'pSe iroket yifipMS, 1715

p>eyd\ai p^eyoKai KaTiy(pvac rv^ai

761/09 OpvlOdDV

Zi^ rSvBe t6v avSp*. oXX' vp^vaioi,^
Kal wp^iSlouTi Si'x^eaff ^a?9
'avTov Kal Ttjv Boo'/Xetai/. 1730

ACT HL

SProphe,

1736

Antiatrophe,

1740

Song I.

When the goddess Fates allied

To fferoy his Olympian bride,

Himy the high cmd heamefidy One^

Him who held the exalted throney
They samg the song of Hymen Hymenams,

Croldenrwvn^dy the bloomy Love

His chariot UghtHy reining drove^

With his present power to bless

Jove^s and Hera^s happiness.
And soffig the song of Hymen Hymenaeus.

Fei. Your lays they are sprightful, your music delightful^
ur language is striking, and quite to my liking.

Oho. Sta^ yet a little while and sing

The earth-descending crashes, 1745

The fiery-gleaming flashes,
The terrible white boU of Zeus the Mng.

Song II.

the mighty golden blaze of lighlmimg !

the flmny spea/r of Zeus irnvmrntal!

^ hooflrsely echoed peals of thunder mo

Swdlmg all the cloudy vault from trnder^
And lM rush of rain, from hewoerCs high portal/
Now with these ov/r chief the eoflrth is frightening.

EXODOS. 78

"Hpa iroT 6\vfjL7rla
T&v ^Xifidrcov 9p6v(ov
dpxovra deoh fiiyap
Molpac ^uv€Kolfii<Tav
TOt^S* vfievaC^. i735

6 S' dfiif>tdcLKri<; "TStpco^

'Xpvaoirrepo^ rjvLa^

eSdwe iraXiVTovov^,

Zrfvd^ irapo^o^ ydfjuov 1740

KevSalfiopo^ ^Hpa9.

IIEI. ixdprjv ifivoL^, c^opv^ ^al^'

arfafuu hk \6y(ov.
XO. dye vvv avrov

/cal T^9 xOovUl^ KK^a-are ^povra^ 1745

Ta9 re irvpoiSec^ Acb^ darepoirw;

SeivSv T dpyrjra /cepavvop.

«! fiiya ^(pvaeov darepoirrj^ <f>do^,

(2 Afto? Afi^poTov Sjxo^ irvp(f>6pop,

c3 ')(06vuii I3apvax€€^ 1750

Ofil3po<l}6pov ff afia iSpovrai,

aU oSe vvv yOova aelcL

ACT m.

AU the power of Jove he comes poeeeswng;

BoyaUy^ who in glory splendid

On the aaieient throne of Zeu$ aUended,

He bringe hy his side in statdy pride^

His queen, his bride, his blessing.

Sing we the song of Hymen Hymenaeusf

[The procession goes forth amidst jubHant music

Oha Taralala, lalat

Wqft the conqueror, waft on high.
Thrilling lyre and Paean-cry !

TardUda, lalalaf
Hail to thee, all hail to thee,
Owr supremest deUy I rm

THE END.

r^

EXODOS. 79

Sia Se irama Kparrjaa^

KoX irapeSpop HaatXeiav ^6£ A609.

[The procession goes forth cmddst jviilarU nrnsic,
XO. oKaXaXal Irj iracciv,

T^peXXa KdXXlvcKo^, S

SaifiSvcav iireprare, 1765

TEAOZ.

APPENDIX.

My Yerse Translation of The Birds, written in 1869 for use
in Lectures on that play, was published in 1874 by Messrs
Macmillan. Its Introduction treats of Greek Comedy, especially
the old Attic Comedy of Aristophanes, its greatest author, and
of his eleven plays, its only extant samples : — of The Birds, as
among these perhaps the most striking and most popular: — of
the controversies waged about its character and design : — finally
stating and supporting by internal evidence my own view of this
question. Readers, who would comprehend this drama from its
author's stand-point, should consult my Introduction, and Grote's
History of Greece, Part ii. Chapters lvii, lviii. These chapters
(from p. 127 to p. 211 of the octavo edition, including the
events of 416 — 415 B.C.) contain that portion qf Athenian history
which must be known by those who would appreciate the general
design and specific humour of this admirable comedy.

It competed for a prize on the Athenian stage at the Greater
(or City) Dionysia in the month of March (Elaphebolion) 414 b.c.
(about 2300 years ago), gaining only the second prize, the first
being awarded by the judges to The Koniastai of Ameipsias. As
the preparation for the appearance of such a drama would require
some considerable time, we must assume that Aristophanes
delivered his written work to the * Choragus ' of his tribe, (say) in
some part of January (Gamelion), and that he had, therefore,
finished its composition towards the close of 415 b.c. That time
was one of the most critical and anxious in Athenian history.

11

82 APPENDIX.

When the Sicilian expedition was voted in the spring of
ac. 415, there were in Athens three political parties. The demo-
cratic majority, partisans of progress and of war, who had former-
ly supported Kleon, were now led by the daring and able, but
nnprincipled Alkibiades, who, bom of high family and possessing
great wealth, flattered the popular ambition to serve his own. A
smaller body of citizens, moderate in political feeling, were
generally guided by the advice of Nikias, whose pacific and con-
servative character was liable to the dangerous faults of indolence
and superstition. Behind these parties lay in the shade a third,
the oligarchic faction, not large in numbers, and afraid to avow
itself, but formidable from its organization, which was conducted
by secret societies or clubs, called Hetaeries (hetaireiai). The
members of these were bound by oath to support each other
mutually in lawsuits and candidature for office, and to propagate
their political objects at the risk of property and life. The
partisans of Kikias disliked the character and dreaded the policy
of AJkibiades : the oligarchic clubbists went farther still ; they
hat<ed him personally, as the French aristocrats in 1789 hated
Lafayette, considering him a deserter from his order, and one who
fostered democratic influence as the basis of a virtual tyranny for
himself. Among the leaders of these Hetaeries in 415 were,
Andokides, son of Leogoras, a voung and wealthy Eupatrid;
Peisander (Peisandrus) of Acharnae, a cowardly intriguer, who
afterwards became a traitor; Charikles, in later years one of the
Thirty; and the orator An tiphon, son of the sophist Sophilus. Of
these, Antiphon alone had been hitherto bold enough to oppose
Alkibiades in public. Kor was it in these political parties only
that Alkibiades had enemies at work against him. Many of the
small fry in the Ekklesia, Kleonumos, Androkles, and others,
envied his popularity, and resented the stings of his scornful
eloquenca The priests, with Lampon and Diopeithes at their
head, abhorred the freethinker, whose mockeries of religion im-
paired their influence, and might tend to diminish their profits.

APPENDIX. 83

The comic stage was enlisted in the same cause. Eupolis probably
exhibited at the Dionysia of the city, in March 415, his comedy
called The Baptae, in which the licentious revels and nocturnal
profanities of Alkibiades and his boon companions were held up
to public indignation. This attack is said to have irritated
Alkibiades, but it did not avail to shake his influence.

The expedition to Sicily had been voted, Nikias, Alki-
biades, and Lamachos being in .command as strategoi ; and the
preparation of the armament was proceeding. The opponents
of the scheme had called in the aid of superstition to prevent its
execution, but without success. The popular will was para-
mount: and the armada continued its preparation, when a fact
occurred which startled Athens, and led to the most momentous
consequences. This was the mutilation of the Hermae, justly
called by Mr Grote *one of the most extraordinary events in
all Grecian history.' These Hermae, or haK* statues of the god
Hermes, which stood in the streets of Athens, are described by the
same historian as ' blocks of marble about the size of the human
figure.' See CL lviii. p. 146. On the morning of the 11th of
May, B.G 415, all these Hermae were found to have been mutilated
by unknown hands. The characteristic features of each had been
destroyed, and nothing left but a rude mass of stone. One Hermes
only had been spared, if the account given by Andokides may be
trusted ; and that stood near the house of his father Leogoras.

The effect produced by so daring a sacrilege on the population
of what Sophokles (Oed. Col, 260) calls the most god-revering
of cities, could not fail to be tremendous. Horror, alarm, con-
fusion, suspicion were widely felt, and everywhere displayed ; for
those who were in the secret counterfeited these emotions, and
strove to propagate them. Historians are agreed, for the most
part, that the crime was conceived and executed with a view
to depopularize and destroy Alkibiades : and the secrecy of
its execution points to the oligarchic hetaeries as the contrivers
and agents. Their plan was to fanaticize the popular mind

11—2

84 APPENDIX.

hy this sacrilege, and, when inquisition was made, to extend the
inquiry to all offences against religion, by which means they
could not fail to inculpate Alkibiades. In this course they might
calculate with full assurance on the aid of the priests, headed by
the same Diopeithes who, seventeen years before, under the
administration of Perikles, had inspired and conducted the
measures against the philosopher Anaxagoras, which compelled
him to fly from Athens. Unsuccessful in their former efforts, the
clubbists were resolved, by one grand corip, to succeed now.
And succeed they did in their main object, the ruin of their hated
rival; but with him they ruined the Sicilian enterprise, they
ruined their country, and in the long run, by a righteous retri-
bution, they ruined themselves and their party.

The Council of 500 met, and summoned a special Ekklesia,
which voted a Commission of Inquiry. Among the chief in-
quisitors were Peisander and Charikles, who were not improbably
in the secret of the plot. A reward of 10,000 drachmas (nearly
£400) was offered for information : but none as yet came in. A
further reward of 1000 drachmas was then proposed, on the
motion of Kleonumos, for all information respecting acts com-
mitted in violation of religious worship. Still several weeks
passed without any denunciation. At length, on the very day
when the strategoi (Nikias, Lamachos and Alkibiades) were to
report the completion of the armament, and receive their final
orders from the people, one Puthonikos, an agent of the con-
spirators, mounted the bema, and warned the citizens of the danger
incurred by sending as commander of the fleet a violator of the
highest religious sanctities. Alkibiades, he said, had profaned
religion by a mock celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries in
the house of Polytion, and in the company of other profligate
youni? men. A slave Andromachus was brought forward to
LtabLx this charge by his evidence : and Puthonikos .ent on to
denounce Alkibiades as implicated in the mutilation of the
Hermae; a gross and manifest calumny. Whether for this

APPENDIX. 86

reason or for others, the accusation did not gain credence.
Androkles renewed and extended the charges in another Assembly,
but the resolute denial of Alkibiades was received with applause.
Hereupon the conspirators, affecting moderation, proposed to with-
draw them for the time, and to defer the inquiry concerning the
mysteries till the return of Alkibiades. Against this course he
himself protested strongly, demanding an immediate trial, a full
acquittal or a capital condemnation. His friends do not seem to
have discerned as clearly as he did the wisdom of insisting on this
demand. He was not adequately supported ; and his enemies so
far succeeded as to send him to Sicily without a previous trial
and acquittal. In June, 415, the armada sailed for Sicily.

The inquisition which then took place at Athens my readers
will find in Mr Grote's narrative. Enough here to say that the
charges of impiety were renewed against Alkibiades in his absence.
And so many acts of this kind were now imputed, that his enemies
found it an easy matter to obtain a decree of accusation against
him, and of recall to answer the charges in person. His
impeachment before the Council of 500 was moved by Thessalos
son of Kimon, one of the oligarchic party, and seconded by the
democratic orator Androkles. The motion being accepted, the
state-galley Salaminia was despatched to summon him home : the
trierarch being ordered not to seize his person, but to allow him
to sail to Athens in his own galley. The Salaminia found the
Athenian fleet at Katana, in Sicily. Alkibiades obeyed the
summons, but on the homeward voyage he escaped from Thurii
in Italy, in September 415.

On the return of the Salaminia to Athens without Alkibiades,
he was condemned to death par corUwmace^ his property was
confiscated, and a solemn curse was pronounced upon him by the
priests. Such was the sad state of things at Athens when
Aristophanes wrote The Birds in the autumn and winter of 415.

What were his political feelings at that time? We cannot
say with absolute assurance, but what we surmise is this. As a

86 APPENDIX.

joung man, before the Peace of Nikias (421 b.c.) he had ever
been a strong opponent of the war-policy initiated by Pericles and
followed up by Cleon. He had celebrated the Peace with joy in
the comedy which bears that name. But a man of his intelligence
could not be blind to the incompetence of Nikias as a statesman and
a commander ; and though Alkibiades now led the party to which
our poet had always been opposed, Aristophanes would not regard
him with the same dislike that he had felt and avowed for Cleon.
He would respect the rank and wealth of the young aspirant to
power : he might admire his freedom from superstition, his
contempt of priestcraft. Whether he agreed with Nikias in
deprecating the invasion of Sicily, we are not informed; but
supposing such to have been his sentiment, we may be sure
that, when once Athens had entered upon that perilous enterprise,
our poet would earnestly desire his country's success, and would
see that its best chance lay in reliance on the commanding genius
of Alkibiades.

If any competent scholar will take the trouble to examine the
political situation of the latter part of 415 b.c., the positions of
the men concerned, their relations to each other, their antecedents
and probable feelings, considering also the nature of the old Attic
Comedy and the characteristics of the Aristophanic Plays, such a
scholar will be led to the same conclusion as myself; that Aristo-
phanes intended in The Birds to answer and counteract TIieBapiae
of his rival Eupolis ; that he wished, so far as he dared, to favour
Alkibiades; and that, above all things, his aim was to laugh
down and vanquish by the force of ridicule the fanaticism pre-
valent in Athens at the time when his play was given to the
Choragus. Open protest of his feelings he does not make; he
does not dare to make it in the face of the rabid and now
victorious oligarchs and priests. The name of Alkibiades is not
mentioned anywhere. It was not possible to speak with open
favour of one who was undoubtedly at that moment a condemned
exile, though, probably, not yet known to be an actual traitor and

APPENDIX. 87

a counsellor of the Spartans against his country. But in the
course of the play, straws enough are thrown up to shew how the
wind was blowing in the poet's mind. I do not speak only of its
great topic, banter and mimic war against the Olympian deities
and their ministers, but of the departure of the two friends (line 34
foil., 123) from a miserable squabbling Athens; of the horror
with which a Salamiuian trireme looming with a summoner on
board is mentioned (147) ; of the scorn expressed for Aristokrates
(126) and Peisander (1556), two oligarchs whom the poet was not
afraid to irritate, of the vvo-rafctv icat /xeXXovifccav in 638 — 9, just
at the time when Nikias was, by wretched procrastination as a
commander, throwing away all chance of success (see Grote
ch. Lviii) ; of the ridicule cast on political and religious suspicion
in the second epirrhema, where reward is offered for the heads of
dead tyrants and a possibly dead atheist, Diagoras (1071 foil.)
But scarcely has the poet launched these last shafts, than,
seeming to fear they may be felt too keenly, he calls forth a
hearty laugh by offering a still higher re\fard to any one who will
take alive the poulterer Philokrates. In-short, the whole tenour
of the play from first to last seems to indicate one design : and if
that design is not quite so plainly shewn as Moli^re's in the
Tartuffe, yet the real purpose of the Greek is not less clear than
that of the French comic poet.

In short, the purpose of Ths Birck is this : — it is meant to he an
a/ntidote to the religious fury which at tha^ time vxis the bane of Athens.
At least one third of its lines contain ridicule of the gods and their
priesthood, with details of their humiliation and defeat. (See
Argument.) Yet, amidst this general flouting of the deities, one
god, a very vulnerable one, escapes. This is Hermes, whom in his
drama last preceding, The Peace, Aristophanes had signally cari-
catured. In The Birds, Iris, the female messenger of heaven, has
to bear the brunt of comic persiflage. Is it not evident that the
poet shrank from recalling to the public mind that god, to whose
images (the Hermae) so gross an insult had been lately offered by

88 APPENDIX.

secret mutilation 1 He -would not run the risk of laughing to
scorn a deity whose wrongs had aroused so fierce a storm of
popular wrath and superstitious horror. But he could venture to
relax the clenched teeth and unknit the frowning brows of his
audience by reminding them that to banter the Olympians was a
privilege allowed to comic poets at the Dionysiac festivals.

We may well suppose that Aristophanes would defer the
constitution of his plot, so far as it concerned Athenian events
and characters, till the time drew near when he meant to produce
it on the stage. And, when the sad troubles o£ the spring and
summer of 415 had embittered and afflicted the Athenian mind,
when Nikias, by his timid inaction during the rest of the year,
was losing the best chance of capturing Syracuse, our poet would
seek to divert his townsmen from their gloom, and to deal, from
behind his comic shield, a smart slap in the face to Lampon, Dio-
peithes and the whole confederacy of priests, soothsayers, and
oligarchs. And this Aristophanes could dare to do, because he
was a great poet of a people thus described by Geppert (Die
Altgriechische JBuhne, p. 278) :

"The Greeks denied nothing to their artist. They willingly
delivered up to him all and everything, to fashion as he chose.
To the comic poet they surrendered their deities, their political
institutions, their public and private life, their social relations,
even their own persons : all they required in return was, that he
should produce a work worthy of such a god as Dionysus. And
their poets have used the gift in a way which excites amazement.
A creative power of humour and wit, which flung aside all fetters,
has given birth to works of art, such as no time can rival. They
are caricatures indeed, but in the largest style : they are parodies,
but of a kind in which the Spirit of the age seizes the mask, and
plays its own comedy. The Demos of Athens, the very Genius
of Hellas, is the acting character in these inspired outbursts of
comic scorn ; nay, it is also the suffering character, for it parodies
itself. So was it with the Greeks. Yes, there has been a people

APPENDIX. 89

proud enough to obey no laws but those of its own making ; great
enough to laugh at its own follies : a vigorous, youthful people^
able to think and feel, as no nation of the earth has since their
times thought and felt.''

A few Help-notes on the Translation are subjoined for the use
of spectators not familiar with the original.

Line 11. Exekestides, Akestor (under the name Sakas),
Spintbarus &c. are ridiculed as persons claiming to be Athenian
citizens without legal right.

15. Tereus king of Thrace, changed into a hoopoe. See
Classical Dictionary.

16. * Bi-at of Tharraleides,' i.e. impudent creature: probably a
mere nickname, from 'tharraleos,' audacious,

28. * To go to the ravens,' a saying equivalent in meaning to
*go to the deuce.'

31. Sakas : see note on line 11.

58. Hoopopoi: a pun on the hoopoe (epops) and the word
epopoia,' *epic poetry.'

61. Runner-bird, *trochilos,' perhaps wagtail.

71. Cock-fighting was an Athenian amusement.

77. * Phalerian whitebait.' Phaleron was the eastern harbour
of Athens.

96. * May you be smashed' was a Gi*eek term of imprecation.

100. Sophocles wrote a tragedy on the fable of Tereus, with
that title.

102. 'Bird or peacock.' Peacocks were a novelty from the
East. *Omis' bird, was often used to signify the domestic fowl : a
hen,

109. 'Heliasts': i.e. jurymen (dicasts) in the court called
Heliaea; a skit on the prevalence of litigation at Athens.

123. 'Kranaan.' Athens gained this title from an ancient
hero Kranaus.

90 APPENDIX.

126. 'Skellias' youngster* ; Aristokrates, one of the oligarchic
party, afterwards put to death b.c. 406.

154. Salaminia. The Paralos and Salaminia were two
public galleys, used for messages to officers abroad, and for convey-
ing accused persons to Athens. This passage shews that the
comedy was written after Alkibiades had been summoned home.

182 — 4. The words *8ite' and 'city' are used as parallel
to the play of words in the Greek; pQlos, p5lis.

186. *Melion famine.* Helps was starved into surrender.

194. As swearing is the attestation of a dreaded power, the
birds are made to swear by objects they may be supposed to dread.

267. The two birds that first appear are a * flamingo (phae-
nicopteros), and one called Medos, supposed to be a variety of the
domestic cock. The words (276) * holding an uncommon site' are
parodied from a tragedy of Sophocles. They are augural.

358. The owl will not molest the pot, because an owl perched
on a pot was carried in the procession of the Panathenaea.

363. Nikias was much esteemed for his skill in the conduct
of sieges.

497. Allmus, a deme of the tribe Leontis, near the Fhalerian
harbour,

501. Kites were wrongly supposed to migrate: hence the
kite first seen after return was saluted.

515. As we nowhere else hear of birds on the head of statues
we must surmise that Aristophanes puts a comic fact in the mouth
of his hero to support a comic logic.

521. Lampon, a soothsayer of the time, mentioned again 988.
Swearing by animals and trees was a curious practice, intended
to avoid irreverent mention of deities. Xrjva (goose) is supposed
to be such a substitution for Zvjva (Jove).

523. 'Jacks,' Gr. Manas. Manes was an ordinary slave's
name.

693. Prodikos, a famous sophist, whose forte was philology.

712. Orestes, a footpad and cloak-robber.

APPENDIX. 91

720. As omens -were familiarly drawn from the flight and the
cries of birds, * bird ' became in Greek and Latin a common word
for 'omen.'

746. 'The Mountain Mother' is the goddess Kybele.

766. *Peisias' son/ one Meles, a harper. Of his treasons
nothing is known.

807. * The poet' Aeschylus, who, in a lost play, cites the well-
known fable of the eagle, killed by an arrow feathered from his
own wing.

815. A plant called 'sparton' (a kind of broom) was used to
make a cheap bed-rope, called *Sparte,' here, by a pun, con-
founded with the city so named.

819. A city founded on 'clouds' and inhabited by 'cuckoos'
(regarded as vain birds) represents an unreality, a castle in the air.

826. Euelpides asks who shall occupy the Acropolis of the
new city, and wear the splendid robe carried in the processions of
Pallas Polias (Athene or Athenaia).

831. Kleisthenes, an effeminate Athenian noble.

832. Stork wall, 'Pelargikon' from pelargos a stork; pun upon
the Pelasgic wall of the Athenian Acropolis.

833. 'A bird of ours:* the cock whose crowing awakes
people against their will.

857. Chairis, a flute-player.

860. * Mouth-piece.' Gr. phorbeia, a leather respirator fas-
tened round the jaws by the flute-player to moderate the effusion
of his breath.

865 — 886. Here the style and dialect of the old Ionic
liturgies are parodied, and their prose form kept. The new bird-
deities are comically associated with the old, but to Hestia
(Vesta), goddess of the hearth-fire, no bird-name is attached. She
could not be omitted, being the maintainer of the holy flame in
house, ward-room and town-halL The kite represents the hearth-
guarding Zeus; the musical swan Apollo of Delphi and Delos;
the mother-quail Lato (Latona) ; the goldfinch Artemis (Diana) ;
'phrugilos' (1) is the mysterious Sabazian Dionysos of Phrygia '.

92 APPENDIX.

the sparrow (or ostrich) the Great Mother Kybele. To these are
added ludicrously a number of hero-birds (demigods), some with
known names, others seemingly unreal inventions.

869. Before this verse some lines of the liturgy are evidently
lost, in which Poseidon (Neptune) was addressed as the Hawk
worshipped at Sunium in Attica (Souniaratos). He is called Stork
by a pun, being ' pelagikos,' sea-god; 'pelargos' is a stork. See above.

874. Xolaenis, an old mysterious title of Artemis.

875. ' Strouthos ' may mean either sparrow or ostrich : if
the former is meant here, the Great Mother is parodied by
ironical contrast, and Kleokritos, probably a big gawky person,
will remind us of * Little John' in English legend.

880. The Chians, till after the Sicilian defeat, were the most
faithful allies of Athens, and named in its liturgies.

918 — 19. Cycliari songs are 'dithyrambs': Parthenean, such
as were sung by a choir of virgins (parthgnoi); Simonides, the
famous lyric poet of Ceos (Zia).

924 — 930. Pindar is parodied in these verses, and again at
941 and 950.

967. Oracles were sung in Homeric verse; and usually
commence with *but,' being regarded as extracts from the Law-
book of Fate.

969. The Korinthians were the bitterest foes of Athens.
They kindled the Peloponnesian War.

970. Bakis, an ancient soothsayer.

971. Pandora, the All-giving, a very suitable deity for this
Soothsayer's purpose.

997. Meton, a famous mathematician of the time, who
invented a new calendar, called Meton's cycle. He resided in the
Kolonos Agoraios, near the Stoa PoikilS.

1009. Thales of Miletos, the great Ionic philosopher, one of
the Seven Sages.

1013. The laws of Lakedaemon (Sparta) forbade aliens to
reside thera

1021. Inspectors (episkopoi) were sent out to subject states

APPENDIX. 93

-with an authority resembling that of modem governors. The
Spartans called their inspectors 'harmostai' i.e. adapters. The
'proxenoi* were resident citizens, who exercised towards the ruling
state functions like those of modem 'consuls'. Sardanapalluu, the
Assyrian king; the coxcombical dress and assuming manners
of the episkopos are represented by this title (dainty don).

1028. Pharnakes, the Persian satrap of Daskulitis. Both the
Greek contending parties had now begun to court the Persian
alliance.

1035. The last intruder is a vendor of psephismas, i.e. of
plebiscites or decrees of the Athenian Ekklesia.

1041. * As those of Poland.' Gr. as those of the Olophuxians.
Plophuxos was a colony on the Thracian coast. The name is used
for the sake of the poor pun which follows: *Ototuxians/ i.e.
Lamenters or Sobbers. , Poland and Woland are used to exhibit
the point of this comic jest.

1072. Diagoras of Melos was a notorious atheist of the time.
Here Aristophanes evidently glances with some contempt at the
measures taken against the suspected Hermokopidae. See
Grote, LViii.

1106. Lauriotic owls: ie. coins of silver from the mines of
Laurion, bearing the image of an owl, the bird of Pallas.

1121. Gr. 'breathing Alpheios,' i.e. panting like a racer at
Olympia, where the river Alpheios skirted the race ground.

1150-51, After Karoiriv one line and a half, possibly two lines
and a half, are lost. The translation supplies by guesswork, which
cannot be far wrong.

1155. 'Yellow-hammers,' Gr. pelicans, containing a pun.
The birds are altered in translation, to retain the comic jest.

1203-4. The floating dress of Iris suggests the ludicrous
question, 'bark or bonnet?' And her answer, 'Swift Iris,'
suggests another, which of the two svnft triremes, 'Paralos or
Salaminia % '

1242 foil. 'Likymnian bolts,* 'Lydian or Phrygian,' 'Am-
phion's domes.' The expressions are parodies from tragedies.

04 APPENDIX.

1250. 'Magogian birds/ Gr. porphyrions, harmless seabirds,
suggesting the giant Porphyrion.

1281, &c ' Lakonomaniacs.' There was always at Athens
an affected minority who admired and imitated the 'total
abstinence' of the Spartans from all kinds of luxury. These
persons, says the herald, 'es5krat6n,' 'had the Socratic malady.'
The plain style of living adopted by Sokrates is unjustly called
•dirtiness.* They carried skytal-staves, Gr. ' eskutaliophoroun.'
The skytald was a staff invented at Sparta for secret communica-
tion with civil and mUitary officers.

1292-99. Among the persons here caricatured, we know nothing
of the shopkeeper or of Menippos : Fhilokles was the tragic poet,
who gained the prize against the Oedipus Tyrannus of Sophokles.
Lykurgos had probably a taint of Egyptian blood, hence called
ibis: Chaerephon is the pallid gloomy-looking disciple of Sokrates;
Surakosios a loquacious demagogue. Meidias had an ugly scar
on his forehead. The game of quail-smiting consisted in filliping
the poor bird's head, which if he bore without flinching, his owner
was victorious.

1365. The 'wing' is a shield, the 'spur' a spear.
1410. The Informer enters singing a catch of Alkaios. His
Greek title is ' sukophantes,' afterwards extended to include
all who live at other people's cost. Hence our word 'sycophant.'
1416-17. 'Upon his cloak.' The cloak is 'dappled' with
patches and holes. The next line refers to the saying, 'one
swallow does not make a summer.'

1421. ' Woolston.' Gr. Pellene ; a Greek Bradford, renowned
for its woollen goods.

1463. The whips of Korkura were famous.
1468. 'Justice-twisting tricks.' Such an imitation of the
Greek as ' pettifoggicorascality seems to me an error in taste,
unsuited to the genius of our language. As well might the word
of six lines in the Ecclesiazusae which describes the menu of* a
feast be rendered in some such style as turtilo consommo-salmono-
turboto-cotelletto-sirloino, &c, &q.

APPENDIX. 95

1474. * Beyond Hart*: lit. 'farther off than Kardia/ which
Ib a town in the Thracian Chersonese. Kleonumos, though tall
and good-looking, is branded as a worthless coward. He was
among the enemies of Alkibiades.

1479. 'Load of figs, &g,* Gr. sukophantei, meaning that he
lays informations, probably in the affair of the Hermae.

1491. Orestes the footpad is called a hero, because his name
is that of Agamemnon's son.

1494. The scene with Prometheus is highly comic and a
broad caricature of the Promethean myth, as exhibited by
Aeschylus in three dramas, of which only the 'Prometheus
Vinctus * survives.

1500. 'Towards four o^clock.' Gr. boulutos, 'the time of
loosing oxen.' See Hom. IL x'vi. 779.

1519. 'In the Thesmophorian days.' The Thesmophoria
were solemnized by married women from the 9th to the 13th
of Puanepsion (November). They required abstinence on account
of certain mysteries.

1520. ' Barbarian gods.' As barbarous tribes dwelt north of
Greece, Aristophanes ludicrously supposes barbarous gods existing
above the heavenly Olympus, and gives them the title of a very
fierce and wild Thracian tribe, the Triballi. This conception is
carried out with the raciest humour in the next scene.

1527. 'His sire-god.* The members of a ward (phratria)
worshipped a common Zeus and Apollo, each called ' ho patroos *
(sire-god). On Exekestides see note on line 11.

1530. 'A tribe allied.' This jeu de mots is substituted for
that in the Greek text ; which cannot be rendered in English.

1536. 'Boyalty.' Gr. Basileia. This title personifies the
kingly power of Zeus.

1541. ' Paymaster,* Gr. kolagretes, an officer at Athens, who
paid jurymen their fees.

1546. 'Through whom we grilL* Prometheus was punished
by Zeus for stealing fire from heaven, and giving it to mortals.

96 APPENDIX.

1548. 'Hate of gods.' By using a somewhat rare and
ambiguous word, Peithetairos seems to imply that the gods hate
Prometheus. But Prometheus accepts it in the other sense,
calling himself a Timon who hates the gods.

1552. * Basket-bearer.' Gr. kanSphdros, a maiden who carried
a sacred basket in the Panathenaean procession. A camp-stool was
carried by another maiden, for her occasional relief.

1568. 'To the right.' The Athenian fashion was, to pass the
cloak (himation) over the left shoulder, drawing it round the back
towards the right, carrying it beneath the right arm, which re-
mained free, finally bringing it back to the left shoulder, where it
was clasped, hanging down gracefully. This was called 'epi-dexia',
'rightward manner'. The Triballian god was arraying himself in
the reverse way, and is rebuked by the polite and courtly
Poseidon for being so gauclie,

1579. Peithetairos here baits his hook for Herakles (Her-
cules), whose gluttonous tastes appear in the Alkestis of Euripides;
and affects throughout a supreme indifference to the presence of the
envoys. Herakles nibbles at once. Peith. spins his bait again
at line 1602 and finally hooks his fish at 1673.

1615. 'Nabaisatreu.' Kock interprets this; 'let us three go
back.'

1645. This and all that follows is highly comic. Zeus, the
supreme god, is supposed to die and leave all his property to be
distributed according to Attic law.

1682. The Greeks likened barbarians to swallows, as twitter-
ing and roaming foreigners.

1720. The quick return of Peithetairos from heaven with his
bride Basileia, shows how little Greek comedy cared for the famous
unities of Tragedy. His final triumph convinces me that in him
Aristophanes meant to delineate Alkibiades, and to hint that
success in a great enterprise cannot be achieved without boldness,
decision and promptitude, qualities in which AJkibiades excelled,
while Nikias, though brave and virtuous, was deficient in them.

APPENDIX. 97

ON THE PARABASIS PROPER.

In the Clouds the Parabasis proper is in the peculiar metre in-
vented by Eupolis, thence called Eupolidean. The Frogs, Lysistrata,
Ekklesiazuaae and Phit/aa have no Parabasis. But in the other six
extant plays of Aristophanes, the AchamiomSy Knights, Wasps,
Fecbce, Birds, Thesmophoriazusae, the Parabasis proper is in the
metre called Anapaestic Tetrameter Catalectic. This was so usual
that in three of these plays this portion of the drama is called
' the Anapaests.'

Mr Erere's clever translation of the Parabasis represents
his own witty conception, but not the mind of Aristophanes.
Mr Frere has most ably striven to imitate the supposed utterance
of Birds, fluttering, tremulous, irresolute, eager, irregular; snatches
and bursts of speech. He probably thou]ght (for such used to be
the prevalent notion) that the Parabasis was recited by the full
chorud of Birds. We know now that it was spoken by one, the
Coryphaeus : and there is little doubt that here the Coryphaeus
was the grave, solemn, pompous owl. This Parabasis was there-
fore uttered as steadily, as deliberately, as magniloquently as a
royal speech, or a judgment of the Lord Chancellor from the
Woolsack. Fluttering is altogether out of place as representing
the original here, however appropriate to the Parodos, to the
Ode and Antode, or other places, where the poet marks it
by stuttering, by agglomeration of short syllables, by repetitions
(epopopopopopopopopoi), or by imitative sounds (tio, tio, trioto,
totobrix, (fee). The humour of the Parabasis proper is quite
different, nay, it is the very reverse of this. Its language is in
the highest degree full and loud-sounding, bombastic, epically
grandiloquent : the wit consists altogether in Parody and Irony.
The theogonies of the Orphic poets, which formed the frequent

12

98 APPENDIX,

subject-matter of sophistic lectures, especially of the lectures
delivered by Prodikos, are here ludicrously parodied-* the Birds
being put in the place of the gods. And herein is the laughable
Irony of the whole passage. In the most high-flown serio-comic
style (such as readers of our dramatic literature will remember in
the Midsummer NigMa Dream, in Bomhastea Furioso, and in The
Critic), the Coryphaeus proclaims the Birds to be a race of beings
older than gods, supreme benefactors of mankind, their true
prophets and interpreters; and in the Makron he promises from
them every blessing to the human race for ever and ever, even to
surfeiting. Such, and such alone, is the humorous design of this
passage, to which mock-gravity, mock-dignity, mock-sententious-
ness, and an ea^-cathedra judicial air are absolutely essential;
while anything like fluttering hesitation and palpitating haste are
not only foreign, but hostile, to its purpose. I must not forget to
add that one of the critics talks of 'fluttering anapaests.' Indeed?
If Birds are supposed to 'flutter' in anapaests, what of the sturdy
Coal-heavers of Achamae] what of the stalwart Knights of
Athens? Do they 'flutter' also in the anapaestic movement
of their Parabases? There is no metrical foot which Bird-motion
may not be supposed to imitate. If a hop and a skip tlpx>ugh a
tree, ending with a jump to the ground, may represent an
anapaest, a jump on the ground followed by a hop and skip into a
tree, may represent a dactyl, and so on.

In my translation of the Parabasis I substituted Trochaic for
Anapaestic rhythm, because I thought it more likely to please.
I could have imitated the original with more ease, as the
following Anapaestic version, printed in 1874, will shew.

Ho ye men who by nature are dim-lived, attend, ye most sem-
blant of all to the leaf-race.

Little furnish'd with strength, and mere figments of clay, sha-
dow-wrought population and nerveless;

APPENDIX. 99

O ye wingless ephemerals, bom to endure, O je men that are

mortal and dreamlike,
Unto us the immortals give diligent heed, unto us who are ever

existent,
The etherial dwellers, untouched by old age, the devisers of plans

never-ending :
That, when once ye have learnt all the lore that we teach of

the regions above so veracious.
When ye know to the full the trae nature of birds, the descent

of the gods, and the rivers
That through Chaos and Erebus run, ye may bid prosy Prodikos

hang for the future.
First Chaos and Night and black Erebos were, and grim Tarta-

ros widely extended;
But at that time nor Earth was in being, nor Air, nor the

Heaven itself was existing.
When in Erebos' limitless lap first of all did the dark-plumed

Night lay a wind-egg.
Whence in due revolution of seasons sprang Love, the dispenser

of all that is sweetest,
With his pinions of gold shining brightly behind, and in speed

like to wind-rolling eddies.
He in Tartaros wide, as the legend imports, with the dark misty

Chaos uniting.
Became father of us ; and there nurtured our race, till we came

forth to light for the first time.
There existed no race of immortals until Love wrought to the

blending of all things ;
But, when one with another was mingled, arose the great heaven,

the earth and the ocean.
And the stock never-dying of all happy gods. Thus of all

blessed beings we're oldest.
Many facts prove us children of Love ; for we fly, and are fond

of consorting with lovers,

100 APPENDIX.

Who, when other resources are fruitless, have found that the gift

of a bird is effective,
And the battle of love may be won by a quail, or a goose, or a

finch or a sparrow.
Of the many great blessings that mortals enjoy, those they get

from the birds are the greatest.
In the first place of seasons the signals we bring, of the winter,

the spring and the summer.
They must sow when the clangour is heard in the air of the

crane into Libya retreating;
At the same time he tells the ship-captain to hang up the

rudder and tranquilly slumber;
And he bids for Orestes be woven a cloak, lest he shiver and

take to dismantling.
The next bird after this that appears is the kite, introducing a

different season,
When the spring-laden fieece of the sheejp must be shorn : then

the swallow next makes her appearance.
Who declares it is time to dispose of the cloak and to purchase

a blouse for the dogdays.
Furthermore we are Ammon and Delphi to you, your Dodona,

your Phoebus Apollo;
For ye come to the birds first of all for advice^ ere ye go to

your worldly vocations.
To your commerce in marts, to the choice of a trade, and an-
other, it may be, to marriage.
Whatsoever about divination decides, with the title of bird ye

endow it;"
Ye pronounce it 'a bird,' be it oracle, sneeze, voice or omen or

footman or donkey.

So this question we ask, and the answer is plain; are we not

your prophetic Apollo?

S. M. Is^

•OAMBBIDaB: PRINTED BY 0. J. OLAY, M.A. & BON, AT THB UNIVBBSITT PBBB8.

Pabliahed miifinnnly with fhis edition, Price Is.

THE BIRDS OF ARISTOPHANES,

thahslated by

JOHN HOOKHAM FRERE.

*^* The two editions (vre wrranged so as to correspond page

for page throiighout.

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